Best Laid Plans
by Lord Onisyr
Summary: On Nov. 5, 2004, L saw the trap Light set and narrowly sidestepped it. What followed was a series of plans to expose Light as Kira and turn a key tool against him, though escaping the specter of death would be a difficult proposition.
1. The End is the Beginning

**Best Laid Plans**

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters are the property of Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata, and Viz Media. I don't own them; I just examine all their possibilities.

Author's Note: "Best Laid Plans" is an alternate ending to Death Note, starting in Chapter 57 of the manga and taking a different turn from one key event. A lot of this will be the result of some complicated plotting taking into consideration events and character reasoning and motivation to shape the story in an alternate direction. There will likely be plot oversights of some kind and some reasoning that some may not interpret as being completely in character. However this is based on my reasoning of the plotline and my view of the characters, so bear with me. Be aware that the timeline will also jump around between the "present" and the time the story begins.

"Best Laid Plans" is rated R for graphic descriptions of wounds and some sexual content that will appear later in the storyline.

**Prologue: The End is the Beginning**

**January 28, 2005**

**12:15 p.m.**

**Tokyo**

It was over

Light cried out, both hands flung upward but he probably knew clutching his chest would do nothing against the surging pain. He had witnessed these heart attacks enough to know the process.

Soichiro clutched him tighter, sweat already pouring off his brow and face bone white. Now he watched as his son flailed through spasms of pain, held him in his arms and savored the last moments his firstborn would be alive. His suit was smeared with Light's blood, a pool of it settled around both of them after the shots Light took to the wrist and the calf.

Light did not fight off his embrace, it was almost as if he accepted it.

Aizawa and Mogi stood frozen, eyes locked on him in gazes of horror muted by exhaustion.

Matsuda's face was buried in his hands. He sat against the wall, knees pulled to his chest and hands draped over his tear-streaked face; he looked like he wanted the wall to swallow him and take him away from this.

Misa clutched L's shoulders tighter, burying her face in his hair and the crook of his neck and sobbing violently. The shoulder of his shirt was now soaked in tears and dripping nasal mucous.

She couldn't look at Light; the sound of his final grunts and gasps were doing enough damage to her psyche already.

Rem stood still and stared at Light, fangs revealed as her purple mouth gaped open. Perhaps it was possible for a God of Death to be scared, or perhaps this was simple amazement. Perhaps her fear was more for Misa than for Light. She wanted Light dead since the beginning. Now she had her wish, but what would this ultimately do to Misa despite the part she played in this moment?

The black-clad Shinigami, the one Light addressed as Ryuk as he called for him to kill everyone, was simply standing and observing; mouth curved in that perpetual grin. It was hard to tell what his view was on this.

His clawed hand closed the Death Note on the page where the kanji reading "Light Yagami" was written 40 seconds ago, the other hand opened the holster on his side and he slid the notebook back in.

Watari paid no mind to Light. His attention was firmly set on pressing his black jacket hard against L's abdomen, desperately trying to stop the river of blood.

L was already lying in a pool of it, a few more trickles flowed up his throat and escaped the sides of his mouth.

The .38 round ruptured his spleen, he knew that much though the bleeding from his mouth was a clear indication the bullet must have damaged his gastro-intestinal tract. It likely clipped his stomach, though that was probably not the largest source of the bleeding.

The gun was on the other side of the floor after being practically thrown over. Fortunately it didn't go off and do more damage as it was hurled, though everyone's respective lifespans were predetermined. No one else was dying today.

He managed to prop his head on Misa's knee, her face keeping the other side of his head supported as he stared at Light through his fading consciousness. L glanced up at Watari; the old man's normally stony visage twisted with the threat of tears. It hurt to see this, a pain perhaps greater than what he was in right now, though his adrenaline and the massive blood loss dulled his senses.

L pulled his gaze to Light. He had to witness every second, watch every one of Light Yagami's flails and hear his dying groans. He had to witness his final victory; a victory that came at an indescribable price.

He had no idea it would come to this.

Light slowly stilled, breath shallower. The end was seconds away.

He looked over at L, giving him a weak smirk.

Light Yagami then looked up at his father as his muscles relaxed and his breathing stopped.

It was over.

"S-someone call an ambulance!" Aizawa yelled, finally finding his voice.

Misa rubbed her nose against L's cheek, her lips finding his ear and whispering.

L wanted to believe he heard what he thought he did, though he couldn't trust his senses at this point.

All he needed to know was he finally had his victory. Whether he would be around to savor it or pick up afterwards remained to be seen.

Author's Note: This storyline is far from over, believe me.


	2. Hypothesis: the landmine

**Best Laid Plans**

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters are the property of Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata, and Viz Media. I don't own them; I just examine all their possibilities.

Author's Note: This contains dialogue taken directly from Chapter 57 of the Death Note manga, though it was needed to keep continuity and transition into the plot variation.

**Chapter 1: The Hypothesis (the landmine)**

**November 5, 2004**

**7:55 p.m.**

**Tokyo**

L didn't want to concentrate on the spot floating in front of his eyes. He hoped it was just a reaction from a reflection of fluorescent off the glass coffee table off to the side. Otherwise it was the beginning cycle of a classic visual disturbance indicating a migraine; a flashing kaleidoscope of warning that he was going to get really sick really soon.

The scrolling list of new names on the monitors all around him was only pressing that threat. The sudden shuffling around the room wasn't helping.

"What's going on! The criminals are being killed again!"

Chief Yagami obviously just got the news.

"Sixteen just last night. All the people shown on TV since Higuchi's death."

L could see Aizawa's beige suit and curly hair a few centimeters away in his peripheral vision. He and Matsuda were now at the desk rapidly typing in searches and looking for information.

"All at once," L said.

He remained facing forward. He picked up another panda cookie, but the idea of eating it right now made his stomach clench.

L put the tip of his finger in his mouth staring at the monitors. Something here had to make sense; some pattern had to come to him soon. He just couldn't pick it apart right away and it was infuriating him.

"Kira, dammit!" Light said.

L's head snapped up and looked at Light after this sudden outburst. Somehow L felt like it was the beginning of a fine performance.

"So as we suspected, Higuchi wasn't Kira," the Chief said.

"No, it's accurate that Higuchi was killing the criminals up until the time he was caught," Light said.

"So then another Kira has appeared?" Aizawa said in stressed incredulity.

L managed to tune out Matsuda's whine in response.

Kira returns. What's going on.

There was a second notebook. L knew that from the moment he touched the first one, the moment he first saw the Shinigami as Higuchi was arrested. There is another Kira out there; there is another notebook, another Shinigami.

"But this makes is clear that there really is another notebook out there," Light said. "Right, Rem?"

Impeccable reasoning, Light-kun.

"Must be…a Shingami wouldn't go out of his way to kill only criminals," the Shinigami said. L would never get used to hearing that calm, otherworldly tone.

L was surprised they got this much out of the Shinigami. Every other answer had been "who knows," "I've never done that," "I can't say." It was the first pseudo-definitive answer they had received.

L questioned every single word of it. A part of his mind wanted to think it was a staged answer to a staged question. Light would want as much suspicion onto another person as possible.

No…there was no suspicion. The 13-Day Rule took care of that. Light and Misa were both cleared…due to circumstances on Light's own request. And now Misa…

He finally put the cookie to his teeth and nibbled. It made him feel a little better and the bright spot in front of his eyes was dwindling. A migraine right now would have been rather inconvenient. He had to stay completely focused right now.

"The happens the moment Amane is freed," L said.

He definitely knew what the response would be.

"Ryuzaki, you're still saying that?"

So valiant of Light to be the first to come forward and defend Misa. Was this reaction true surprise that he was heading in this direction? The expected reaction would be offense at the insinuation, which would inevitably come back to him.

"This has nothing to do with Misa," Light barked. "She was already suspected of being the Second Kira. Even if she did have Kira's powers, she isn't stupid enough to use is at a time like this."

This coming from a man who pretty much rolled his eyes whenever Misa was around during the Yotsuba investigation. Apparently now he had formed feelings for her based on mutual circumstances. Light seemed to be a good judge of intellect and his outward reactions said the opposite of what he was stating now. Now apparently he is giving her some benefit of intelligence.

"If you're talking about timing then say 'the moment Higuchi died.'"

Nice cover, Light. You know damn well what I'm talking about and where this conversation is going.

His reactions to this line of thought told so much more. L knew he could not stay on this topic too long or else end all conversations in the room with mutual yelling at him. He knew when to give a pseudo-retreat.

L picked up the box of Hello Pandas and rooted around for another cookie.

"That's true," he said almost dejectedly.

Though maybe he's expecting me to assume that…?

Can't be…

Something wasn't right.

"Light's right, Ryuzaki we need to forget about Amane," Chief Yagami said. "Those who used the notebook die unless they keep writing people's names. Amane's innocence has been proven based on that."

The 13-Day Rule, yes. Thank you for digging that in, Yagami-san. Such a convenient little rule.

"Yes, you're too obsessed with your theories, Ryuzaki, you keep trying to go back to them," Aizawa said.

Either Light's external defense force was piping up again of Aizawa wanted a new opportunity to take shots at him. He rejoined the Taskforce when Higuchi was arrested, though his return was out of loyalty to the case and his fellow officers than a change of heart over the one leading the investigation.

L shook the box and let some of the cookies fall to the desk.

"Yes, I apologize," he said. He needed to not press the matter now. Too much was happening at once. He picked up two cookies and nibbled a little at each. "Well if there's another notebook out there that someone's using…," he crushed one cookie between his thumb and forefinger to emphasize his point, "I'll definitely catch that person."

The light crunch of teeth working away at the foot of a panda was the only sound in the room for a moment.

"But…we're talking about a notebook that kills a person if their name is written into it," Light said. "If all this new Kira does is kill criminals, it won't be as easy to locate him as it was with Higuchi."

"You're right," Matsuda interjected.

Light was speaking the obvious again. It rubbed L the wrong way when Light made statements like this; it was too simple containing no hypothesis other than what everyone else was probably thinking at the time. The "golly gee" act was glaringly fake with Light; Light was much more insightful than this. L had seen it numerous times even if it was behind a curtain of cordial innocence..

"We know how the killing is done now," L said. "If we find someone suspicious, we apprehend them and thoroughly examine whether or not they have the notebook."

It was a simplistic answer to a simplistic question. What was Light's reaction to this going to be?

"But Ryuzaki…this murder notebook…I believe it's real…but even if we catch the person writing names into it, will we be able to punish them as a serial killer?" Light asked.

Of course you believe it's real; you never had any doubts before and if you did you never voiced them. You have been vocal about everything else you have viewed in this case, why are you bringing this up now?

…In fact why didn't you bring up the issue of punishment and proving the killer's guilt a week ago when the notebook was revealed? Out of everyone here, you would be the first to notice a potential legal issue. You have been here as every method was taken to analyze it…short of…

"Not unless the murder notebook's effectiveness is proved," L said, dividing the small, smiling cookies on the table into intricate rows. "But that is meaningless to me. Once the case is solved, I'll let the court system worry about that."

Now he was even more curious about everyone's reaction to this idea. The rest of them thought he was a heartless bastard, he was already rehearsing their protests in his head. The tone of Light's upcoming dramatic speech would tell him how calm or otherwise he was. Or else expose the skittish curiosity as the act it was.

"Wait, of course you could punish him without testing the notebook."

L was almost proud of Matsuda for finally coming up with a reasonable answer.

"Matsuda, for that we'd have to produce the notebook as evidence in a court of law," the Chief said.

It was a predictable answer.

"Well…I mean…I'm not talking about that…" Matsuda sputtered. "The person is writing names down knowing it will kill people! If we don't want the existence of the notebook revealed to the public, the suspect should be executed in secret."

Matsuda was either catching on or was more ruthless on his own.

Would Light make some heroic counterstatement to this. He probably would; he was talking enough already.

The question was still rubbing L the wrong way.

"That's a harsh conclusion, but I bet that's what our superiors would demand," Aizawa said.

L stood a few cookies up against the keyboard, seeing how far he could move them together and have them stay standing.

"If he acknowledges the killings he's done with the notebook, he'll get the death penalty, or at least life in prison," L said. "If he doesn't acknowledge it, then maybe force him to write his name in the notebook." Yes, I'm speaking to you, Light-kun. What do you have to say to this? "Well, that's something to worry about once we catch him," which will be soon. "No point in thinking about it now."

Are you afraid to be caught. You haven't been so far…

Or maybe you want to put the threat out there…maybe to dad so he'll say something and paint you charming and pure again.

But then why hadn't he asked about this before? Why was he bringing it up now?

None of this made sense.

The silence that followed was almost more telling. Light had to have been sweating.

But Light didn't sweat; that was the thing. He could go from flustered and argumentative one moment to perfectly ice calm a moment later.

Something was at work here.

The facts remained: Amane is freed and Kira returns. He learned some things from talking to the Shinigami, but still the answer to all the important matters was always "I don't know."

Yesterday he asked about killing someone with a scrap of the notebook and the answer to that was "I don't know."

If you could kill just by writing the name on a piece…

The implications made his heart pound. Light could have just had a piece anywhere on his person to write on. What about during surveillance? What if there was a piece in a book…or even that bag of chips he was reaching his hand into while studying.

It wouldn't be impossible…

If that could be done Kira should be able to kill someone at any time…like Higuchi…while sitting across from.

Was the Shinigami covering for him? Did they have a plan worked out? Or maybe the creature could not speak about certain things; but then he couldn't imagine these things being trustworthy, They transcended the limits of reason, why should they be beholden to reason?

No, there were other complications.

That 13-day-rule: if one does not write a name into that notebook every 13 days they die. Yagami and Misa were still alive.

But writing on a piece…but the 13-Day-Rule…

…how much could these creatures be trusted to go on their word?

If he was in cahoots with the Shinigami, if the Shinigami was more of a servitor…

Religious texts credited to God were written by the hands of man. But then he had never been in the presence of a god to ask if it was the right words.

All of this was supernatural; all if this was completely alien territory, none of this operated on the standards of humanity.

No, this was a case pure and simple. He might not have been familiar with the details, but they were still pieces of evidence. He had to become accustomed to them to solve this case.

This was his defining case, his crowning moment. The "Greatest Detective in the World" would leave here after deciphering the supernatural and putting Kira in a hole or at the end of a noose…after putting Light Yagami at the end of a noose.

Supernatural details here were like scientific theories…

They had to be tested.

They had to test the notebook…they had to test the 13-Day Rule.

L nibbled a bit on another cookie.

How could it be tested? Death row inmates, that was the answer. Do this in secret? No, this had to be done with the full knowledge of the Task Force. He voiced any doubts about Light and Amane's innocence now, he would get shot down easily. If he could produce proof…no.

Call the little bastard's bluff in front of everyone right now. See how he sweated to that one; see how he tried to defend himself or tried to argue how inhumane it was. At least two members of the Taskforce had talked about less friendly methods as an option for getting rid of Kira. Yagami wouldn't like the idea, but if it meant proving his son's innocence he might be agreeable. Mogi was the wildcard but he was more a lockstep soldier than a soldier of ideals. He would go with the majority.

L wanted to see Light twitch, he was already nervous…or seemed like it.

"I don't care what country," he said, adrenaline already going despite his calm demeanor. "There shouldn't be a problem if we're up front about it."

He nibbled a panda and let that hang in the air for a moment. The expected light gasps followed in anticipation of what he was going to say next.

…That Light was waiting for him to say.

…That Light knew he was going to say because he was leading him to this point…and he was falling for it.

No! It was a stupid theory! He had to tell them to test the notebook. He had to say they would have it used in an execution. It was the only way to connect Light and Amane. That would ultimately prove the validity of lack thereof of the 13-Day Rule. If they proved it true Light was free, but if they proved it false this case was solved.

And Light knew this.

L snatched up a handful of cookies from the desk and shoved them in his mouth. The words were itching on the tip of his tongue, he wanted so badly to say them…but they would be premature…

Or worse, they would set off a potential trap.

The pieces were falling in place in his mind.

This was too simple, everything was coming to them too easily as if they were being handed over.

Light was playing the simple act now…as he had the last time Misa came to headquarters. What exactly did they talk about outside…shielding their mouths from the cameras with no microphones around?

Hiding information…like this Shinigami had been doing ever since it got here…

Ever since it suddenly appeared right with the notebook and Higuchi…right before Higuchi died and left the notebook and the Shinigami with them.

The notebook

The Shinigami

Higuchi's death

The second notebook

Amane and Light freed

More deaths

All suspicion falling on Amane…and Light…but they were cleared by…

A rule that can be very easily challenged…

Kira would not leave any holes…Light would not leave any holes, he was too thorough…

Unless he left a hole open knowing Ryuzaki would…

With a Shinigami looming over him…maybe another…and an accomplice with a notebook and the ability to kill seemingly on a look…

And now he was asking him questions about punishing the user that he suspiciously did not ask before.

This was like a simple game of checkers.

One piece is close to reaching kingship but surrounded on three sides by opposing pieces. Any move and the piece is jumped, but all that piece can see is their end goal and not the immanent danger of being eliminated.

That lowly piece just looked around him and got a different perspective.

Light was planning for this moment, but what was he expecting?

He knew Ryuzaki would keep investigating; L's suspicion was predictable at this point and Light was using it to his advantage.

He was expecting him to keep investigating and leading him to a point where he would get close…then…then what?

Dammit, what was he expecting to happen!

"What will we do with another country, Ryuzaki?" Matsuda asked almost desperately. Like someone dying to hear the final score of a game or how a soap opera ended.

He had to steer the conversation out of this territory if he wasn't too deep into it already.

"Once we find Kira, he will be punished," L said, moving this conversation back into more neutral territory. "We will find a country that will bring the one doing these killings to absolute justice. I have connections in governments all over the world. We will find a government that will have room in their legal system to punish this murderer."

"Right!" Matsuda said. L could see an arm pump the air from his peripheral vision.

"You are confident we can put a legal end to this?" Soichiro Yagami said. He sounded like he needed reassuring that there would be a fair outcome.

"I can assure you, though that is not a matter for now," L said. "We need to find Kira first before we can even talk about how the courts will deal with it."

He picked up the box and rooted through for a few cookies, counting every breath he took and every second his heart was still beating.

Silence lingered for now, no one said anything, they simply let L have the quiet floor. A promising development maybe.

Perhaps there was another clause in the notebook; if one rule was fake how many more of them were, or yet how many more had been omitted for Light's purposes?

Maybe the Shinigami is supposed to protect the owner of the notebook. Maybe if the owner is threatened the Shinigami has to kill the one threatening.

If Rem killed him the investigation would fold; no one else will work in the presence of a Shinigami who will kill anyone who gets too close to Kira. No…that would put immediate suspicion on Misa, though it was unlikely the Shinigami would comment on that. More probable the Shinigami could say it wasn't supposed to say why it killed him.

Or maybe this was how Light would guide the investigation; hold the members of the Taskforce hostage. He could still maintain his innocence with them and control them quietly with the Shinigami.

Or perhaps the Shinigami would kill them all, likely leaving Light alive to continue as Kira.

No, according to the rules the Shinigami had to stay with the owner of the notebook. But do they have to stay with them all the time? Maybe this Shinigami was attached to Misa's notebook and protecting her interests.

…There was another notebook…another Shinigami perhaps. Where is that creature now? If he has not touched the other notebook he cannot see them. One could be floating over his shoulder right now whispering Light and Amane's guilt in his ear and he never would hear it.

L swatted his hand past his ear, making it look like he was moving aside a few hairs.

That theory could be countered as well. All they needed was one Shinigami to kill him. If L died, Rem would be blamed even if it was done by another Shinigami or if another person with Kira's power managed to get to him.

An invisible Shinigami would be best for killing him in private, but Light would want him to die out in the open with plenty of witnesses and alibis. Light's fantasy would probably be for him to die in his arms as he wept and shouted like a sympathetic victim.

That was probably why Light had essentially been following him since Higuchi's death; he wanted to witness the execution, or at least he wanted to set out a few more pieces of bait for the trap.

"Though it would only state the obvious to say we can't punish Kira until we catch him," L said. "The matter at hand is there is clearly another notebook out there. Shinigami are there any others of your kind on earth right now?"

"I couldn't tell you," Rem said. "It's rare enough for one of us to enter the human world."

"So Shinigami don't travel in groups," L said.

"No, we are solitary creatures."

He knew she would say that, but this part of the conversation was putting up the smokescreen. He had to appear to look in the other direction. Light wouldn't buy it and he did not know the intelligence level of the Shinigami, but the less obvious he made his conclusions the better; it was better to circle the trap than run for it.

There was one thread that no one had bothered to pick up amid the chaos. Light knew this fact, probably because he propagated it, though this worked in L's advantage if he worded this right.

"Amid all this chaos of notebooks and Shinigami, Kira has made fools of us," L said, picking up another cookie and nibbling it. "Higuchi's death was evidence enough there's another notebook, though I am sure he wanted us distracted by the situation to not question how his chosen wielder died."

He needed to be careful where he went with this; it could have lead to implicating Light and Misa again and possibly springing the trap.

"Oh man, that's right!" Matsuda groaned.

"Kira had been watching Higuchi all along," L continued, not wanting to look back and see any more reactions. He could smooth those over later. "Power has gone to another of Kira's chosen. If there was only one notebook, the killings should have stopped when it came into our custody, but Kira was in possession of another notebook whether directly or indirectly."

L slurped down the rest of his coffee, then set down one cookie and covered it with the cup. He took the small saucer and lined it next to it, picking up an empty foam cup from the other side of the desk and setting it up in a row.

"Either Higuchi tripped up and became a liability, or he was a pea in a morbid shell game," L said, shuffling the three around the desk." Seen once and seemingly disappears." He lifted one cup at a time, showing nothing underneath them, "while the real Kira, or perhaps someone with another notebook bestowed by Kira, disappears in someone's palm and is ready to go back into play."

L opened his palm and revealed the cookie for a moment before popping it into his mouth.

"But a notebook like this is something Kira would not want to easily lose," Light said. "Or do you think Kira intentionally gave up this notebook to play this game with us."

Light was playing along with Ryuzaki at this point, but that's all this was. Ryuzaki was either going to go straight for the throat and die quickly or else he was going to circle and dive in, though the end would still be the same.

It looked like he was taking the roundabout approach, but with the same obvious epicenter.

"Kira likely has had to make sacrifices, or rather exchanges to get to this point," L said. "I believe he has possessed this second notebook from the beginning with the plan to do exactly what we are seeing now. If he only had possession of one, he would not allow it to fall into our hands so easily unless he had a direct plan for getting it back."

L thought to add the part about taking pages from the notebook, but that would only implicate Light out loud. He practically gritted his teeth to avoid this topic; he was so close…too close and that's what Light wanted. His hands were tied and it infuriated him, though a few silent breaths and a few more mental reminders calmed his bile; you need to step back and find where the landmines were planted before running forward. This was going to take time.

"Kira is now going through another proxy; another individual writing down names for him, the Second Kira I would say," L said.

Light successfully kept a serious expression. I hope you're listening to this Rem.

"However the Second Kira may have outlived his usefulness by now," L said. "Kira figures the Second Kira would be too easy to track down at this point; we already know his motivations and even if he were to change his patterns completely, he would still be easier to find even by a minor percentage. No, it is likely we are dealing with a Fourth Kira."

Soft groans and sighs followed this announcement and a fog of discomfort and fear hung over the room. It was the only logical conclusion at this point for the rest of the Taskforce.

To Light, L was clearly using this as a distraction. Of course he suspected Misa; this was just a way to keep the rest of them occupied while he looked at Misa independently.

A nagging thought did cross his mind; does Ryuzaki know Rem is protecting Misa? Or rather has he made some kind of connection between calling out Misa's guilt openly and the potential for retaliation. Given how quickly he backed off to a fake Fourth Kira, it seemed somehow possible he made a realization.

No, that was impossible.

He was onto both of them, that was for sure, but he was sounding like a broken record. All arrangements between him, Rem, and Ryuk were kept between the three of them. Ryuzaki didn't even know Ryuk existed. He doubly had no idea of how a Shinigami can die.

Ultimately, Light had the higher ground; he held the cards for the Shinigami, L just had a Shinigami who refused to tell him anything.

Kira was the one who controlled the Shinigami. Kira was god and L would learn that soon enough; he would learn that after his 40 seconds was up.

"It is likely the notebooks were exchanged between the Second Kira and any of the other accomplices, or perhaps the Second Kira is dead and his notebook returned to Kira to pass along to either Higuchi or the Fourth Kira," L said. "Kira would want to keep the notebooks circulating, like the aforementioned shell game. However, the more Kira chooses accomplices, the more a pattern develops between all of them. Every single killing by every different Kira has its own motive and reflects the personality of the notebook's wielder. The motives of Kira and the Second Kira were misleadingly simple, yet they changed. Higuchi was clearly motivated by the spoils of business, motivations that did not change. Higuchi may have been the proverbial red herring; the most obvious person hiding the least obvious.

"We need to find a pattern in the Fourth Kira's killings. Either the Fourth Kira is more clandestine in his dealings, or he will be another person whose motives are as blatantly obvious as Higuchi's. Killing criminals is either the true motivation or, like Higuchi, it is a way to turn our attention one way. Regardless, Kira has one notebook left in his control, yet his remaining notebook is with all of us as is the notebook's Shinigami"

All eyes subtly turned to Rem, who simply looked back at them expressionless.

"This stage of the game will be exceedingly more dangerous," L continued. "If my theories are correct, Kira is moving his pieces to check, or even checkmate. We must be vigilant and Shinigami this means we cannot let you out of our sight."

"I understand," Rem said. "Though I will be of no use to you in pinpointing Kira or his accomplices. My task is simply to stay with the notebook as dictated in the rules.

"I thought as much."

"But that would mean we would have to allow the Fourth Kira to keep killing," Chief Yagami said, understandably, or rather predictably aghast at the suggestion.

"We have no choice," L said with a small sigh. "There is no Yotsuba right in front of us, there is no obvious case of characters to manipulate at this stage and no clear finger pointing in one direction, as Kira has likely intended. We have to keep our eyes open for any leads that might present themselves, but until then the killings will continue as long as Kira and the Fourth Kira desire. We have no other options but to stand and observe."

"But we still have Yotsuba," Aizawa said. "Some of them may have cooperated with us to catch Higuchi, though in my book all of them are far from off the hook."

"The rest of Yotsuba might not be our smoking gun, though they are something. Above all I want all of Higuchi's communications examined with a fine-tooth comb. He had to have come in contact with Kira through some means other than a Shinigami."

"All of Higuchi's phone, email, text, and IM records are being carefully examined," Mogi said.

"Let's keep up that task," L said, one finger over the button on his keyboard to call Watari to bring more coffee. "I want the members of Yotsuba scrutinized. Unfortunately, the only option we have for the killings is to try to find a pattern."

Nods and grunts of varying levels of enthusiasm and reluctance went across the room.

Rem stood silent. It was obvious Misa was doing the killing, though Ryuzaki apparently had no choice but to look in other directions for now. He wouldn't be looking away too long; he thought like Light Yagami, it would only be a matter of time before his sights were firmly set on Misa. At that time, Rem would have no choice but to end his life.

Light went along with the conversations about what phone record was being looked into, making a desperate effort to appear perfectly calm and not show his frustration.

L was so close, but the bastard backed away. Rem should just have killed him anyway and get it over with before any harm to Misa was even suggested. Though maybe Shinigami did value their existences despite how boring it was according to Ryuk. Then again he could barely be taken at his word.

Light took a few quiet breaths and calmed down. L may not have been dying tonight, but his time was counting down.

Light would prefer Rem killed him sooner rather than later, but this all had to play out organically. He had been a bit too obvious himself, too anxious for Ryuzaki to hang himself. He needed to calm down, silently steer Ryuzaki.

Behind that sickeningly calm demeanor, Ryuzaki was a rabid dog; he was so close to his own victory he could taste it. That would lead him to rush in and make mistakes.

If L was circling, Light had to follow right behind him and make sure he had no other way to go but down. Ryuzaki wasn't threatening Misa right off and he knew Rem wouldn't act unless she absolutely had to, but that time would come soon when Ryuzaki couldn't avoid it any more.

No matter what Ryuzaki did to stall the inevitable, his time would end soon.


	3. Exercising options against a brick wall

**Best Laid Plans**

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters are the property of Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata, and Viz Media. I don't own them; I just examine all their possibilities.

Author's Note: This contains many different references to many forms of the Death Note story from many different sources, including some of my own background for characters. Please keep an open mind before reviewing.

**Chapter 2: Exercising options against a brick wall**

**November 6, 2004**

**Tokyo**

**12:14 a.m.**

"The last person Higuchi talked to before he received the call from Namikawa was Hibiki Matsumoto, the Public Relations Director for Nagano Enterprises, a technological firm," Matsuda said, making a poor attempt to hold back a yawn. "We checked Matsumoto's phone records and last we know he is on the French Riviera on holiday."

L took another careful sip of his coffee, staring ahead at the monitors and the walls of names that had not updated itself since the initial rush a few hours ago. More would be identified in the morning, or else Misa was staggering her killing.

"Was that the last name on the phone list before Namikawa's call?" L said.

"That's it," Matsuda said with a winded sigh. "We still have the IM records to go through."

"That will be all for now, Matsuda," L said.

L stood up from his crouching position, feet buried in the cushion before he hopped off and onto the floor. He stood still for a moment before sighing.

"It's late and it's been several hours since the last confirmed deaths," L said, continuing to stare at the wall. "If any of you wish to break for the night, that's your choice. I do recommend that none of you leave headquarters tonight, it would be too dangerous under the present circumstances."

"I could go on for a few more hours," Soichiro said. L could see the tired smile without even looking at him.

"No dad, you need to get some sleep," Light said. How thoughtful of him. "I know I'm good for a while, Ryuzaki."

"Do as you wish," L said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Regardless of who does it, I want all those names sorted into who is still alive and who is not. Those who are dead, I want their names matched with the names in the Death Note. Those who are still alive, I want their contact information a list of associations."

Light wouldn't be stupid enough to write in the Death Note or take out any scraps now. He was looking for Misa to take care of that dirty business for him, though Light could do something to further press suspicion onto himself and set off his little chain reaction. Maybe letting him near the Death Note was a further nod to the Shinigami he wasn't suspected…yet.

"In the meantime I am going to have a nice long shower and maybe a nap," L said, looking behind him and glancing at the group.

He then turned around and walked away before he would see any reaction. He could have cared less save for what Light was going to do. L managed to get across the room, hearing no one else following him.

The request was personal enough so Light couldn't have followed him without drawing suspicion. He almost wanted him to follow so he could make a snaky remark about if he wanted to help or relive their time chained together. Light only knew he would do that, hence why he was staying put.

L got across the room, a motion-activated door sliding open and letting him exit before closing behind him. L stood to the side and listened at the door. Everyone else thought it was sound-tight, but he and Watari were the only ones who should have known about the purposely-placed weak spot near the doorframe.

"Well wasn't that nice of him," he heard Aizawa say right out loud. "He followed his own advice pretty quick."

"Give him a break, Aizawa," Matsuda said. "He looked really despondent just then. This has to be really hard on him; first it looks like Kira's been caught, then he comes back."

"Matsuda's right, I can tell this is really tough for him," Light said.

Such a thoughtful little bastard. This only confirmed he was staying put for the moment; he had to be careful how he followed him.

Light's conversation went back to phone records and comparing information. This was L's cue that he was falling back into faux police detective mode for the time being.

L continued forward through the dark, quiet hallway lit by a few soft white wall sconces. Light could watch him on the monitors if he wished, see what direction he was going in but it would have been pointless.

He went down a few more corridors then up two flights of stairs. The cameras at this level could only be monitored if they were specifically aimed at this location; doing so would make Light look more suspicious. He probably had found most of the tricks of this building, L was sure of that though he and Watari helped design it. He and Watari were the only ones who knew every room, corridor, staircase, door in this building. He suspected there were a few Watari placed he had not found yet and likewise.

L walked down the tenth floor corridor to the twentieth door, taking a keycard from his pocket and putting it through the slot in the door. He then placed his hand on a specific location on the door's center, activating a special handprint recognition system.

He felt the subtle vibration of the door unlatching, though the mechanism was meant to be completely silent. The door opened and he went through, watching as it closed behind him and setting off a red light on the lock indicating it was once again secured. If anyone else tried to get through the door, a rebar would latch to further reinforce it and an alarm would be tripped.

He and Watari were the only ones with access to that door, a thought that was still comforting. Yes, Watari could be controlled with the Death Note to get access to L, but then whoever held the notebook had access to him too if that happened.

L walked down another corridor with similar lighting. Only Watari had any camera access to this corridor, though behind the fifth door to the left was a different matter. L put his card in again, putting his hand on the door and leaning his eye into a small glass hole for a retinal scan. Only he had access to this area, though Watari could have tripped an emergency system if something was direly wrong.

So many nice precautions. If he were to suddenly drop dead, his body would be found fairly quickly.

No, he wouldn't drop dead here; Light would not want to lose the pleasure of watching him die.

The door clicked open and L walked through into the dark room, watching as the door shut and relocked behind him. He stood still for a moment; the skyline of Tokyo glowing through the tinted windows and illuminating the different sized punching bags, practice dummies, and rack of freeweights at the back of the room.

He had been coming here at least every other day since Higuchi's capture and since Light was unchained from him. L visited it once after the building was constructed while Light and Misa were in their staged confinement. He snuck an hour out to come and get some workout, still keeping an eye on a small monitor at the back of the room hidden in the wall.

Overall, the room sat mostly unused though L was making up for lost time now.

L walked to the middle of the room, bare feet against the polished bamboo floorboards. His arms hung to his sides, shoulders relaxing. He took a few deep breaths, concentrating on a dragon painting mounted on the wall he purchased during a previous case in Tokyo; a red, demonic-looking creature with beady black eyes and smoke wreathing its head. It was fire personified; burning, destructive, fearful, angry.

He concentrated on this image, breathing deeply and finding his center; trying to dissipate the burning in his temples and slow his heart's rapid beat. L slowly moved his arms to the sides, bringing them forward and closing his hands in front of him in a Namaste pose.

His breathing staggered through he tried to maintain control, clear his mind, and finally rebalance. All he could think about was how his sleeves weighed his arms down.

L flung his arms to his sides, hands taking a grip on the bottom of his shirt and yanking it over his head; the back caught on his head for a moment though he only yanked harder; he wanted it off him.

He then threw his white shirt to the side in one move and fell to a handstand a move later, legs flinging out in front of him and landing hard in the center of one punching bag. His hands released the floor and he fell back for a moment to regain his footing, launching himself front-forward, one fist smashing into the leather. He pivoted on one leg, the other leg flying up and heel violently pushing the bag inward, leaving it swinging on its chain.

No more concentrating, no more trying to push his anger aside, no more playing nice.

L crouched low and spun on one heel, pushing himself up before falling to his hands and giving a hard kick into another punching bag with a loud grunt.

He had sat there for three hours and 45 minutes maintaining the cover for his faux maneuvering while planning his next action.

Both legs kicked out, he spun his torso to a downward position; the soles of his feet slapped the floor hard. His backside dropped, with his hands, bodyweight now pivoting on his shoulders and supported by his hands. L kicked both legs in front of him, soles meeting the bag in one move, one foot disengaging, the other slapping the bag again. His second foot hit the floor and he pivoted into a standing position.

All he could find was one proverbial brick wall after another.

He spun on his heel, fists crashing one by one into a bag now in front of him with rapid succession. He gritted his teeth and grunted with each punch.

This wasn't supposed to happen. He should have come up with a feasible solution by now but hours had passed and he had nothing.

He still had options, he told himself that hours ago; but why the hell was he in this tangle now? This wasn't supposed to happen; even if his logic was proven later to be flawed, it still came forth. L wasn't supposed to hit the proverbial wall. L wasn't supposed to be helpless.

His elbow smashed into the bag. He pivoted on one foot and gave it a low kick, the chain holding it from the ceiling creaking with the violent sway.

He would contact another investigative agency and have them follow Misa. The FBI was out of the question but MI-5 would work, perhaps Interpol could recommend someone. The United States, however, was infamous for holding grudges and being less than quiet about such grudges. They could have told any other agency to beware of L using them for the Kira case.

In that instance he could contact one of America's enemies, or an independent cell; more criminals and mercenaries like Aiber and Wedy. Though if anything went awry with those groups they would be less easily controlled and their reaction less polite than an angry phone call.

Regardless, anyone who tailed Misa would likely be killed like Raye Penber, his fellow FBI agents, and even Naomi Misora.

The thought of that alone sent another hard, swinging kick into an adjacent bag. No, he had to control his emotions; he had to continue sweeping aside his frustrations and anger for that incident.

Death would come swifter now; Misa had a Shinigami tailing her. Odds were after the Shinigami killed Misa's followers it would eventually kill him on principle, or else it would communicate the situation with Rem and Rem would kill him.

No, this at least had to be tried…but to what balance of gain and cost? It was an option but it was futile based on past experience. Even Misa or her Shinigami did not kill her tail, they could manipulate them to kill more people or even reveal specifically who sent them.

He could also send Light out of headquarters, say he wanted him to do further investigation because he trusted him or even because Kira would know he had been a suspect. He could put a tiny camera on him and observe his movements; a camera that could be embedded into a button anywhere on his clothing and cameras could be put into all of his outfits.

Though Light suspected he would do this; he already knew about the cameras during the surveillance of his house and he probably expected L to plant more on him. He probably checked his clothing regularly and had many back-up plans for getting rid of or evading the cameras.

Even if L sent him out, Light would probably say something seemingly innocuous that would alert the Shinigami he was suspected. If Light was out of the building he could find ways to communicate with the Shinigami not to mention Misa. He would be free to kill as many people as he wanted and eventually lead L and perhaps everyone else on the Taskforce to their deaths from his position.

He had to try something; L told himself that repeatedly. Even if something did not work, even if it was a flawed plan, something had to be tried. At this point, however, one wrong move could mean a slaughter let alone the entire investigation.

L dropped to his hands again, legs flying up and out. One sole hit the bag, then the other as he pivoted his weight upside down on his hands. He pushed upward and swung his legs down, giving one kick for good measure. A fist flew up and hit the bag as he dropped his bodyweight onto his feet and came to a stand.

Light had him cornered; he had him against a wall and had or was trying to cut off all escape routes. L was running out of moves and Light was closing in for checkmate.

Given the timing and all the events in motion, Light probably expected the final move would come tonight; he likely expected L would be dead before sunrise, perhaps every other member of the Taskforce as well.

That conversation was four hours ago and everyone was still alive, or perhaps L stalled the inevitable by leading the course in a different direction at the last second. He avoided the landmines but did not know where all of them were planted and he had a small space in which to maneuver with no escape. He couldn't stay in a holding pattern forever; it would be counterproductive and get them no where. Likely Light would push in any direction before then with the Taskforce joining in at any time. He had to maintain some unity among members if he had any hope of solving the case.

Matsuda and Aizawa were already talking about using secretive methods; the members of the Taskforce were getting more desperate and perhaps their pure loyalty to Light or Misa would strain in any way. It was a long shot, but L had to watch any potential loose cannons that might emerge from this; one person threatening either of them could have sprung the trap on all of them, or perhaps just L.

He kept his arms level with his shoulders, elbows bend and concentration on his center of balance. One foot flew up and hit the bag. He pivoted on his other foot, the first one falling as the second one went into the air for a successive kick; his body spinning around.

In any scenario, he was the prime target. Regardless of who if anyone else Light wanted dead, L was on the top of that list. If L died, the investigation died with him.

But what if such was not the case? If Rem or any Shinigami killed him, it could have been explained that it was done so on Kira's behest. Light could make them think that; Light could have come to the forefront and offered to take over the investigation. Light could step forward and volunteer to play the brave hero…by taking L's position.

L threw a punch into one of the dummies, imagining it with impeccably styled hair and cold eyes. Another punch followed, then another.

Dammit, he set him right up for it! L had Light play him while speaking with Namikawa, L said Light would be the natural one to succeed him; it would be Kira's dream to take L's position and control all the world's police for his purposes. L had used that as a tactic to draw him out and place more suspicion on him, but if L died the seed was already planted for Light to slide right into his seat. The Task Force would recommend it. Light would play the mourning friend doing his duty. He would easily create his own communication and records system to take over, even as a pastiche L.

L already had several complicated provisions in place for his own declared successor; 13-year-old Near and 14-year-old Mello were dead equal in his book for the title. Both of them ruthless and determined. Near was coldly calculating and Mello was a grenade.

He refrained from declaring either of them for the time being; both of them were bitter rivals. If he died, word would go back to Wammy's House either through Wammy himself or, God forbid, alternate means over which Light had zero control.

Mello and Near would learn of his death and learn of the open successorship and events would be set in motion. Both of them would want to catch Kira to avenge him or show their superiority over him, perhaps both. If they didn't work together, they would go separate ways and attack in opposite directions with the fuel of rivals.

It was L's ultimate Plan B, the absolute worst case scenario. Yet another crapshoot but a plausible plan to catch Kira if he was unable. Kira or the Shinigami would have a more difficult time going after separate moving targets. If both of them were wise, they would assemble their own teams to cover more area; he would make sure both of them had the resources and contact lists in government, law enforcement, organized crime, or any other avenue to do that.

Both of them were in their early teens; would they be able to handle such a task now?

No! It was a preposterous thought and counterproductive. L was still here and not going anywhere…

…Unless he could find a solution to this puzzle soon. Somewhere a clock was ticking and L had no idea what it was set to; and it unnerved him.

A fist smashed into the dummy's rubber nose, a foot swinging upward for a kidney shot and the other foot slamming under its chin.

Death was the ultimate failure in this game. This time it wasn't about reputation, pride, or money; all his chips were in, to lose was to die. That was Light's endgame, his ultimate goal. Light wanted his name written in someone's notebook.

The notebook, that was the ultimate threat in the end. The human whose name is written in this notebook shall die. It was clear the notebook was real; a name goes into it, that person is done, such was the nonnegotiable fact.

Though how nonnegotiable was it? Was there any way to get around it?

The text flashed into L's mind as he pivoted on his leg. He froze thinking of the words.

"If a Death Note owner accidentally misspells a person's name four times, that person will be free from being killed by the Death Note. However, if the Death Note owner intentionally misspells the name four times, the owner will die."

This could work.

L kicked into the dummy's stomach.

This could work though it was a massive risk. He could give spelling variations of his name to the different Taskforce members and have them write it down. This would prevent deaths and make him immune. Or he could designate a Taskforce member to sacrifice to do this, likely Matsuda or possibly Mogi; neither of them had families and he could spare one of them.

No, it would involve giving his real name and the consequences of that were astronomical even if it was the intentional misspelling.

Giving out his real name would have to be a sacrifice, though how could he operate as L if anyone beside Watari or Roger at Wammy's House had that name. He could swear them to secrecy, but he could not guarantee that. He could have them eliminated, but that would be needless and only lead to more problems.

He would lose the Taskforce if he sacrificed one of them, and if they did have his name they could seek revenge. If he gave out his name, he might as well write his own name down to prevent the potential consequences.

But then the Shinigami would know what he was doing and write his real name down anyway; the Shinigami watched over the Death Note. Unless he could get the Death Note away from the Shinigami and Light. Light would be easy; a drop of any powerful sedative in his coffee would accomplish that quietly. Or he could simply tell the Shinigami they were analyzing the notebook; they already took a portion of one page for forensic analysis. But then he had no idea if one page would indeed work on its own.

That was a matter for later; there had to have been ways to write a name down, even if it was too quickly for the Shinigami to interfere.

L punched the dummy in the face again, though froze with one more realization.

"When the same name is written in two or more Death Notes, the note which was first used will take effect, regardless of the time of death."

And what of that time?

"The Death Note can only operate within a 23-day window (in the human calendar.) This is called the 23-day rule."

But there was another clause: if someone were to be written to die of a disease, the listed disease could take longer than the 23 days and the person would die at the appropriate time as the progression of the disease.

His arms hung to his sides; he suddenly felt cold as the next stream of thoughts went through his brain.

There was another way he could make himself immune to anyone else's Death Note that did not involve entrusting anyone in the Taskforce with his real name or risking further deaths. There was a way that would absolutely shield him, but it would involve sacrificing himself.

How far was he really willing to go to solve this case? Was he willing to kill himself to finally get to Light?

L clenched his fists against the sides of his jeans.

He was so goddamn close to solving this case; the Death Note was the only thing that stood between him and Light Yagami and Misa Amane being taken care of once and for all. Sacrifices had to be made; this was probably his last option.

How could he do it? Light was watching…no Light could be easily removed from the situation. What of the Shinigami? He could write fast, put in the information before the Shinigami had a chance to act or he could find a way to distract the Shinigami.

It was still a major gamble. The Shinigami could still kill him just for looking at the notebook in a certain way. Even if he managed to write it down, would the Shinigami warn Light and Misa? No, he would banish Light from headquarters, or else call in a hit man disguised as a police officer. L would get Light to confess, a bullet to the back of the head was quicker than writing a name in a notebook.

What of the details? If he was confident this could be wrapped up in 23 days, he would simply write that he would suffer heart failure painlessly in 23 days. If he wanted some more time, he could still give himself congestive heart failure or perhaps a brain tumor that would further advance after he solved the case. He could then die in medicated oblivion.

The biggest hurdle would be to get around the Shinigami, but a bait and switch could be used…unless the Shinigami could sense the real notebook and could feel something getting written into the notebook.

L wanted to punch or kick something again but the jerk in his stomach kept him from moving.

He would fail at even killing himself.

His eyes slowly turned down to his bare torso and the long scar across his side.

Vancouver, 2002; a case against a powerful heroin kingpin in which he insisted on investigating undercover with the police. One year after his first successor hung himself; three months after his second successor brutally murdered three people while disguised as L and set himself on fire.

Going undercover in this case was a risk, accompanying the head inspector was even riskier, doing everything he could to drive his quarry out was madness, directly confronting the armed drug lord himself was…

…and he failed then too. The so-called "Greatest Detective in the World" solved every case he was given, but failed at the simple task of ending his own life.

No, he was supposed to be enjoying his life now; a knife in the side his wake-up call, a second chance, an opportunity to live life to the fullest.

And he was doing that by taking on a case of a mass murderer and confronting the culprit every opportunity he was given, whether on TV or face-to-face.

He wasn't actively thinking about suicide two years ago; it was a subconscious instinct, a deep desire that revealed itself. It was still there wasn't it? Despite all the other cases, despite all the breaks he had taken, all the self-searching he had done, did he still desire death?

L turned on his heel and walked toward the door. One toe caught a hold on his shirt and kicked upward. He slid his arms inside it and found his sleeves almost in one motion. He pulled the rest over his head, pulling the bottom back over his jeans.

He took one look at the room, though in a passing glance as he walked forward.

He had to get out of here, find somewhere to get his thoughts together.

--------

**1:43 a.m.**

L walked out of the doorway and onto the roof, his bare feet cold and damp with just a few steps. The smell of rain mixed with the usual exhaust and mortar of a city at night.

Puddles had formed between the cracks of the aluminum tiles below him and water dripped off the bars of the scaffolding around the entryway. The sky was still a bright orange; city lights filtered through low hanging clouds though a few stars peeked out.

It looked like a deluge hit Tokyo just an hour or so ago and cleared swiftly. A few stray raindrops flew into L's face, though they were merely stragglers with no real momentum at the present.

He missed the atmospheric catastrophe, though could have been walking into another one. Sounded familiar.

L walked across the cold metal, hands in his pockets and eyes to his feet. He looked up and saw the building's satellite dish looking another story overhead.

He had disabled all cameras in this area; no one could watch his every movement here unless they were a Shinigami. It was a thought that almost made him smile at the irony.

Leaving the building had crossed his mind more than a few times; there were secret escape routes all over the building through which he could easily slip out unnoticed by anyone. It seemed like too much effort right now; all he needed was air and there was plenty of it here even if it was damp and cold.

He walked to the other side of the roof, avoiding the grating by the satellite dish and heading for the steel railing that encircled the roof. It went waist high; making it something good to lean on though he had to be careful. One would not want to die after all.

L put a hand in each pocket, fishing for a few items he wanted on hand at the moment.

Aizawa probably wanted to keep his wife from finding out he smoked. He kept a pack of cigarettes and a matchbook in a jacket he left at headquarters; a jacket he probably forgot to take home the first time he arrived and never brought it back. He used it from that point on to stash away gum, pencils, loose change, any other small personal effect he did not want on him at the time. It was probably a type of security blanket; an anchor in his own reality in the midst of chaos.

He would probably be irate if he learned Watari and Ryuzaki had rooted through that jacket on a few occasions since Aizawa came back. Watari was more interested in finding any contraband such as bugs or even poison sent by the police of any other organization he could have gotten involved in after initially leaving the Task Force. The jacket stayed in one of the side rooms in headquarters when Aizawa left, but there was always a possibility he slipped something in there that did not trip off any of the front security systems.

Watari would not be amused to know L pilfered a cigarette and a match from that jacket right after leaving the main control room, but it really was none of his business. He had to have known by now the stern lectures to a 13-year-old caught smoking in back of Wammy's House would not be entirely effective.

L took the cigarette and match out of his pockets, putting the filter end in his mouth and striking the match against his jeans to light it. He took a deep draw while shaking the match out, his lungs reminding him it had been a year since he'd done this though he got used to it quickly. He allowed himself one a year or even six months. It was a way to test his resolve, give in once and pull away from it entirely.

Cancer, emphysema, naturally occurring heart attacks were really not a threat under the present circumstances. He deserved this right now; the last cigarette before facing the firing squad.

L's elbows rested against the railing, the lingering water seeping into his sleeves in an instant, but he really didn't care. Perhaps it matched his mood, or perhaps it was good to feel something; it reminded him he was alive…for now.

How much longer that would be was another matter entirely.

Defeat was not a word in his vocabulary; he wasn't just going to bend over and take it without some kind of fight before or after the fact. It was just a matter of strategy; though somehow that wasn't registering as clearly as it should have.

His emotions were getting in the way of what needed to be done; that was a problem, albeit an understandable problem. His job carried danger in the extreme, though the only other time death had truly been a factor was two years ago.

Now he had lived with it for the past year. Even then it was a hypothetical situation; I reveal my face, I could die. The Second Kira gets his demands met, I will die. If I stay around Light constantly, he could kill me. A series of strategic factors that had to be weighed, yet had he really considered what they meant aside from that?

He had a nigh impenetrable wall of reason and logic against emotion. Occasionally something broke through, though he would always have it under control. That was until two years ago; something managed to undermine the very foundation of everything and everything nearly caved in. He had opened up a little more since then, though it was obvious a few old emotions were surfacing with a vengeance.

How much did he or did he not value his own skin? Maybe he had never asked himself that question until now.

Perhaps the timing was perfect; he was now in a position where the most viable way to solve a case, one of the biggest and most complex cases in world history, was to sacrifice himself. L was only human with innate survival instincts. Talking himself out of those instincts was the only way to go forward.

He took another draw, blowing out a long stream into the night.

Here he was, freshly 25-years-old at the apex of the greatest case of his life, the greatest case in history. In the beginning he was an eight-year-old playing with computer and audio equipment thinking he could solve real life cases. 17 years and who knows how many cases later, he was standing on the roof of his own investigative headquarters preparing himself for final battle with a mass murderer.

Maybe this was how things were running their natural course. Maybe this was the end of the line and he knew it; he had known it for the past few years and all was coming to fruition.

The 13th card in the Tarot deck, the Death Card. It did not necessarily represent physical death; it more represented change. The death of a life before, rebirth into a new existence of one of the many complicated parts of human life. Destroy to create. Maybe that was what he truly wanted.

The thought crossed his mind many times after Vancouver though was brushed aside or seemingly satisfied. Maybe he was hitting the wall, maybe this life no longer held any promise, maybe he wanted to be just like a normal person. This job was all he had ever known since he was eight-years-old, though perhaps it was inevitable he would reach a point where his concentration could no longer hold and something else would beckon him away.

L flicked an ash over the side. The last time he smoked was on a beach in Boston with a starving artist; his weekend companion after a random encounter on a subway that led to said artist's bed. It was all in the name of relaxing, taking risks, being spontaneous like most normal 20-somethings. Was a variation of that truly what he wanted?

Perhaps he didn't desire any of that; perhaps what he truly wanted was eternal rest in whatever form that took; Heaven, Hell, Summerland, Valhalla, outright oblivion. Any of those were something different from this.

Death was, however, an extreme and absolute option. L didn't like dealing in absolutes; he liked having options. There had to have been another option besides death, whether dying to catch Light himself or paving the way for Mello and Near.

He needed more time to come up with alternate means that escaped him tonight, though time was in short supply. The longer he waited, the fewer options he had, the more anxious and hostile the Taskforce would become, the more Light would press, and the more desperate the Shinigami would get.

So far death looked like the best option, the best thing he could work with. It was a matter now of finding a way to get around the Shinigami to write his own name down or arrange for events that would come into play when any Shinigami, Light, or Misa killed him.

L took a deeper draw, calming himself slightly; the first step toward thinking logically about this situation.

Those were the main three that stood in his way, the main three threats looming over him all joined by threads…no, webs spun in so many directions. He had to find the weak point, though this transcended any physical boundaries; this was territory in which no human should have treaded. But if Light and Misa were here, he would have to cross that line too.

Perhaps he was at an advantage; he had nothing to lose by trying something. He was ready for death; if it came it was hardly a surprise nor was it a setback in his plans.

L took another draw and blew out with a slight smile. Perhaps this was what this whole moment was leading to. He had to prepare for any possibility to come out victorious; prepare to end this mess with his shield or on it.

The facts were still in front of him; all three of these factors were inexorably linked in thousands of different knots he had to unravel or cut through…

Though where was the weakest link? Where was the one area that could be separated easily.

Light and Misa were human. The Shinigami were alien beings, though were they creatures of rules and cold logic, or could they also be swayed?

For all his intellect and cool, Light had a temper. The black eye and bloody nose L got during their fight was evidence enough of that. He was a passionate person and passions could be lit to explode. There were times when he stumbled and there were times when he was caught with his proverbial pants down. L had to find a way to manipulate that, catch him off his guard.

Misa was even more a creature of passion, though she was methodical and used her sensibility as a smokescreen; like Lady Macbeth, "Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under't."

Misa's tipping and flashpoints were more volatile; she may have been cunning and intelligent, but she was easily swayed by emotion. Light showed cold boredom with her in her presence before now and outright disdain the moment her back was turned. Most women at least had some hint of their partner's emotions even if they denied them, yet Misa seemed oblivious; an indicator her heart guided her…a factor that could be easily manipulated, though to what extent?

L inhaled again, flicking an ash off while staring out across the city in contemplation.

She adored Light, something about love at first sight. She was also devoted to Kira, the entity that killed her parents' murderer; a toddler could have found the connection between those factors. Was she a young woman enamored with a handsome young prince; L had no reason to doubt that. If that handsome young prince was her knight in bloody armor, the connection was even stronger; she would devote her life to him, live, kill, and die for him.

Though how great was her devotion and where was it truly coming from?

L had carefully examined every file in the case of the Amane murders. The perpetrator, Yoichi Tamura, was a drug addict who was caught in the middle of a burglary in an upper-middle class home. He killed the married couple who found him in panic before fleeing. He was not aware of the couple's adult daughter watching the events from down the hall.

Tamura's family found him a good lawyer who was able to utilize every procedure and technicality to his advantage; calling into question all pieces of evidence and the daughter's testimony. Tamura spent more time out in the custody if his family then in jail, though Light put an end to that; another random name written down in his notebook after seeing it on television or reading it online, nothing more. Just like B had been; the name Brian Boyd was scribbled in a notebook somewhere…or perhaps the name Beyond Birthday was all that was needed.

He had no time for the philosophical elements of the notebook now…unless they proved a hindrance in him writing his own name down. He had practically abandoned his given name years ago, perhaps it was no longer his name in a cosmic sense. Perhaps writing "L" in a Death Note would be enough to do the job. Perhaps he had been so anonymous his entire life that he no longer had a defined name.

The whole mess was making his stomach turn. L took a deep draw, getting near the end of his cigarette and momentary distraction.

Maybe losing his name was not a bad thing; he was no longer "poor little Liam," the six-year-old who was the first to see his father's body beaten to a bloody pulp on the front lawn. Perhaps he had transcended that.

He became a detective for his revenge; Misa killed people for hers. Such was how the universe worked. Everyone had a trauma, everyone had a sob story, everyone had different ways of dealing with it.

Though such deep scars could perpetually ache. L chloroformed his emotions, Misa fed her rage.

He put his free hand through his hair; his mind was wandering into that territory he tried to avoid, yet to which had become much more numbed in recent years or maybe more accepting.

After 17 years, 17 years after a little boy's astute testimony, three out of five men were still serving life sentences at Edmonton Institution without the possibility of parole. One died of a brain aneurism 10 years before Kira and another was stabbed through the neck with a fork by another inmate six years before Kira.

Misa, however, never got to see her parents' killer in prison though she had the satisfaction of said killer dying. But in the end that was not enough; she wanted more deaths, and more, and more all to impress the man who gave her revenge. She didn't stop at criminals; she killed police officers and reporters too as a demonstration of her power.

She was now a classic serial killer; kill anyone who fit's the profile, no number can satiate the lust; they all had to die. In another way she was a serial killer groupie like any murderer's girlfriend or a female member of the Manson Family. Killing fascinated her and her "love" was even more appealing because of it. Said love also legitimized her own killing by close example.

L put his thumbnail to his teeth; this was interesting territory indeed, classic psychology and criminology. Profilers and psychologists would have a field day with Misa Amane.

Did it even cross her mind that such innocents would have had their own children watching their deaths on TV? Had she given it any thought or would she even care? Would she care if it were shoved in her face, clearly outline the hypocrisy of her mission? Her mission was to an idol who used her as a tool for a selfish cause at best and his own narcissism at worst.

What if there was a way for her to realize this? What if some kind of shadow of a doubt was placed in her mind on what she was doing? Or was her devotion so strong that it could not be broken no matter what method was used?

L took one last draw from his cigarette, tapping off the ash before twisting the end. Another thought tore itself through his mind, bouncing off his own perpetually raw nerve.

Was there any way for her to understand the hypocrisy of Kira; not all who committed crimes were hardened monsters? What if an alternate theory was presented to her?

A spark went off somewhere in his mind and burned hotter. Soon a series of ideas floated through, fantasies mostly though ones with some crazy chance of materializing.

Percentage of success? Less than .05 percent, slimmer than a strand of hair. Percentage of chance that he would die quicker in the process? 99.9 percent.

What did he have to lose at this point? It was either die and hope his teenage successors would win, or make an attempt to write his name down and either be killed by the Shinigami or die as he requested. His own death would be part of this equation somehow. If there was any option with an iota of chance he could survive, he should at least examine and pursue this course if only to abandon it or die anyway. Plus it would be the ultimate exercise in criminal psychology; if he died, he would die having learned something. If he lived he could bank on the information he had gathered.

L placed the cold butt in his pocket, taking one last look at Tokyo before turning around and walking away.

He should probably fit in a shower to show everyone else he did what he said he would. B_efore that he would need to send a private message to Watari to put a few things in place. _


	4. Strategic mornings and official fan mail

**Best Laid Plans**

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters are the property of Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata, and Viz Media. I don't own them; I just examine all their possibilities.

This story contains details and background stories I have given to individual characters. As a result, any character details that differ from canon is the result of my background stories and not a lack of knowledge about canon. Any comments correcting me or debating with me on this will be deleted without reply.

**Chapter 3: Strategic mornings and official fan mail**

**November 6, 2004**

**Tokyo**

**5:35 a.m.**

The double doors slid open. Soichiro looked back to see Ryuzaki entering the room, hands in his pockets and posture in his usual slouch.

The Chief was still working. Light was still in the position he was when L last left the monitors for the cameras; flopped over on the couch pretending to sleep or perhaps actually sleeping. L looked at the Chief and nodded, making a casual beeline for his usual chair.

They were the only ones in the room and had been for some time. L saw them from the cameras, watching Light nervously work while his father slept. At last, Soichiro would rise and tell Light to go to sleep. He did so, only after a few more nervous glances at his watch and a few peripheral views of the door.

Even then, L waited another 43 minutes before going back down, wanting to make his timing look close and not coincidental.

"Did you get some rest?" Chief Yagami said. L heard a stern, almost fatherly tone he almost smiled at. It was like he was checking up on another boy.

"Sufficient," L said, pulling his chair back and practically jumping on it, coming into a crouch. "I should ask the same of you."

"And I would give the same answer," Soichiro said with a small smile.

L immediately accessed the database. Nothing had changed; no new deaths since last reported. Soichiro looked like he wanted to tell him this, though the screen he was looking at told enough.

"How long has Light been asleep," L asked.

"About an hour," the Chief said. "I told him to get some rest, and I said the same to everyone else. I believe they are in other rooms."

L smiled, entering in some more information before turning back to Soichiro.

"You're really trying to watch out for everyone, aren't you," he said.

Soichiro smiled and gave a small chuckle.

"A force of habit, I suppose," he said.

L's attention returned to the computer, but his smile indicated a measure of understanding. He looked back at Light. One leg was over the edge of the couch and one arm was slung over the back. The blanket covered him somewhat, making him look like he was in the middle of a difficult sleep. Light was half-asleep to L's estimation; not enough to be completely out and enough to still hear things. He would probably want to look asleep when Ryuzaki came back, not wanting to look too anxious about his return but still keeping an ear open when it did happen.

"This is the first time he has gotten any sleep in the past 36 hours," Soichiro said, seeing exactly where L was looking.

"He is truly dedicated, I can only respect that," L said. His dedication was the only thing he respected.

"He wants to see an end to this nightmare," Soichiro said. "These new deaths are only making matters worse."

"We all want to see this end with Kira and his accomplices captured," L said. "I am sure we can do that soon."

L paused for a beat and looked back at the Shinigami. The creature was still standing at the back of the room seemingly staring at the wall, though occasionally looking around. Rem glanced back at him with a dour expression.

"Rem would you care for something to eat or drink," L said. "I know Shinigami digestive systems have evolved, but perhaps you would care to try some human refreshment."

Maybe if he could be cordial with it, perhaps let it get to know him a little better, the Shinigami might hesitate before killing him. Then again this wouldn't have any effect on most humans who made killing their business let alone creatures created with the same purpose. It was worth a try at least.

"No thank you," Rem said. "I am fine as I am."

"Just let us know if there is anything you need, within reason of course," L said, looking back at the computer.

He could see Yagami-san's grimace out of the corner of his eye. He was trying to avoid the Shinigami and understandably uncomfortable with any reminders of its presence.

L accessed a special folder in his computer that only he could understand; a basic link to start a connection with Watari. The circular icon on the upper right-hand corner was red, meaning he did not want to be disturbed unless it was a dire emergency. The red icon was a rare occurrence. The icon was green most of the time, yellow if he was trying to fit in some sleep. A red icon usually meant that Watari was either truly ill or exhausted; any requests would have to wait an hour or so and if he received any they would not be carried out pleasantly. While a pot of coffee sounded excellent right now, L would give Watari his break time; he had already done so much for him in the span of the last few hours. He deserved some rest.

The double doors opened again with a hydraulic swish and two sets of footsteps entered the room. L could see Aizawa and Mogi walk towards them from his peripheral vision. Chief Yagami stood up and gave a casual bow with a "good morning," though L remained in his seat and facing forward.

"Any more victims?" Aizawa said, strained tone of voice indicating he was cautiously ready for anything.

"None since the last report," the Chief said, sitting back down and letting out a tired sigh.

"Hopefully it will stay that way," Aizawa said. L could feel his glare burning through him for a moment before he took a seat at one of the computers.

L looked over at Light's allegedly sleeping form, seeing him move his head a little.

"Would someone wake Light-kun for me, please" L said.

"No need to delegate that responsibility, Ryuzaki," Light suddenly said in a clearly groggy tone. L looked over to see him opening his eyes and slowly stretching from his position. "I was mostly there anyway."

L kept his eye on the monitor, but saw Soichiro give his son a concerned look from the corner of his eye.

"Good," L said. His finger fell on one in a panel of buttons and he leaned into the microphone. "Matsuda-san, are you awake?"

A few seconds passed, presumably as Matsuda scrambled out of bed and to the call system. At last static was heard on the other end before Matsuda's voice.

"Good morning, Ryuzaki, I'm up," Matsuda said in the middle of a yawn.

"Your presence is needed in the main room immediately," L said.

"What's going on?" Matsuda said.

"Just get over here."

"Right, sure thing."

L pushed the button off. He then looked on his computer to see Watari's symbol had turned yellow. He pressed the button putting him through to Watari.

"Watari, could you please bring some coffee and some orange scones," L said. His stomach needed something with a little more bulk and citrus would remove the nasty taste in his mouth.

"Right away," Watari said, sounding completely awake.

L released the button and could feel all eyes on him.

"What is going on," Soichiro said.

"Now that most members of the party have returned, I need everyone else here to listen to what I have to say," L said.

"Some new information you didn't bother to tell us until now?" Aizawa said.

"Not new information per se but something that could bite us if not heeded," L said. "I will not go into any more detail unless all of us are present."

The predicted uncomfortable silence followed. L wished he had something to nibble on in the meantime. He gave a casual glance to the side while keeping his head forward. The Shinigami did not change position, though slowly turned its head in their direction. It wasn't exactly a secret this creature had been or was still in the service of Kira (Light Yagami or Misa Amane, possibly both). The fact it was paying attention could have been recognizing something was going on or it was looking out for Kira's interests. It had no reason to act completely disinterested in the conversation.

A running figure appeared in the monitors overlooking the hallway. Matsuda was practically sprinting down. A moment later the double doors opened with another whoosh, the trampling of sprinting feet telling L that Matsuda entered the room. He slowly turned around to see Matsuda catch his step from running to walking. He wore his shirt, tie, and jacket, though his collar was unfixed and his tie was somewhat of a mess. That plus his heavy breathing indicated ran down here at full bore. Such a good little dog.

Matsuda hastily bowed, trying to tuck his tie in his jacket.

"I came as soon as I could," Matsuda said.

"Yes, well done," L said in a flat tone.

"More deaths?" Matsuda sputtered right as L tried to open his mouth to continue.

"No, Matsuda, there have been no more new deaths," L said, managing to hold back an annoyed sigh, though the conversation took a turn that was the perfect lead-in for what he had to say next. "As a matter of fact we might not see any more today or even for the next day, perhaps through the week." He could see the furrowed eyebrows and puzzled looks without even looking at anyone. "Or we could have anywhere from five to 30 victims in the next 24 to 48 hours, give or take a few."

The scattered gasps and intakes of breath were a little more obvious.

"What brought you to that conclusion," Aizawa said.

"Rem, there is no way you can communicate with any other human or Shinigami through some sort of telepathy, mental communication, signal, anything not involving speech or writing," L said.

"None that I'm aware of," Rem said. "We communicate like any human would, though only with humans who have touched the Death Note of course."

Rem's answer was unequivocal; usually those types of answers were absolutely truthful, or they could have been absolute lies. Regardless, he would take the Shinigami's word for now though it would have to be watched even more closely to make sure it was not passing notes to an invisible Shinigami. Then again maybe the second Shinigami was there to report back to Misa. Regardless, it had little bearing on his actual plan.

"Good," L said. "I made a series of conclusions over the past few hours that could have dire consequences for this investigation." The double doors opened again with a more subtle set of footsteps and the sound of a small hand cart. "The good news is I can deduce Kira's next move from here, though not his long term plans."

The sleeve of Watari's jacket came into view as did a cup and a silver coffee pot. Watari poured the steaming contents into the cup before putting out a small bowl of sugar cubes. L reached behind him and took a scone off the plate, munching it before dropping in a cube, then another, then five more and reaching for the spoon.

"Kira or the Fourth Kira," Soichiro said.

"Kira, most definitely," L said.

Light kept an even expression. After the previous near-miss he doubted L would be swooping back into this territory this soon. Then again maybe he had hit a brick wall and this was the only direction he had. He could only hope Rem was paying attention and pondering her options.

"I believe the fourth Kira, at least for the time being, is a distraction," L said, taking another bite and hearing Watari walk away. "The Fourth Kira has been ordered to kill at a steady rate, either every consecutive day for a certain period of time, every other day, once a week, or any similar pattern."

Rem gritted her teeth, though remained calm. He was getting closer; this sounded like something Light would instruct Misa to do and Ryuzaki clearly saw that.

"This is meant to put our focus on the killings themselves and find a pattern in the deaths that would lead us to Kira," L said. "However, Kira wants our attention diverted; he wants us looking away while he sets his next plans into motion."

Rem relaxed slightly. This sounded like a more promising development. Perhaps he was setting his sights on Light Yagami, though his path would still lead to Misa. She had to remain vigilant.

"As I said before, we have a Death Note in our possession and its Shinigami right here," L continued. "However, these tools are too blatantly obvious; both are sitting here to once again divert our suspicions on an immediate threat. Kira isn't foolish enough to know we will remain looking the other way for too long, though he will expect us to keep the other half of our attention on the notebook and the Shinigami. In fact Kira's main attack might not be a plan Rem was ever privy too."

"What do you think that main attack will be," Light asked. He wanted to see how L scripted his diversion.

L took a few more sips of his coffee then dunked the tip of his scone, watching it soak up the coffee and disintegrate.

"Kira was carefully watching Higuchi during his entire time with the notebook," L said, lifting the scone and watching the moist crumbs float along the surface. "That also means he would have been watching everyone Higuchi encountered. Perhaps the Fourth Kira was as well with the power of the death sight granted by a Shinigami, or maybe Kira found a way to capture the images of those who were suspicious or could be easily traced back to any investigation."

L could hear the nervous shifting behind him. Matsuda was audibly cringing a little.

"We are in possession of the notebook, which has been scanned and analyzed in every way, so we know it has no tracing devices or bugs in it," L said. "The Shinigami is here as well, though from what Rem told us Kira has no way of communicating with the Shinigami in a manner we cannot witness, unless there is another Shinigami present with us now. However, I believe that is unlikely. Kira would not want to be without such a powerful ally for too long. However, the notebook can control the actions of any of its victims for up to 23 days, or perhaps longer if Kira wrote for them to develop a disease."

"So you're saying any member of the Taskforce Kira has potentially seen could be controlled to give away our position or feed information to him," Soichiro said.

L could hear Matsuda take a few nervous steps back.

"Yes," L said. "Kira might expect us to overlook this detail of the notebook, or he might expect we will see this and plan accordingly. Regardless we are at a disadvantage; Kira is using the rules of the notebook against us and we obviously do not know what he wrote. In the meantime, evasive actions on our part will be needed. This means everyone who came into contact with Higuchi unmasked will not be able to leave this building or use cell phones, computers, or any other communication devices for at least the next 72 hours. This means Matsuda and Mogi, you both are under quarantine until I can determine Kira's next move."

"B-but can we still take part in the investigation," Matsuda sputtered.

"You can still look over paper documents and view video footage, so you will have some use," L said. "This also affects Aiber and Misa, as their faces were fully revealed during the investigation."

Rem's attention honed in further on the conversation, though she wanted to weigh all implications.

"I will also include Wedy in that as well," L said, "she was in disguise for her brief role in faking Matsuda's death though her face was visible. All other members of the Taskforce who took part were fully masked. Light, this includes you and I as I made sure we wore those helmets and arranged our hair in a way our faces were almost entirely concealed. The entire ground in front of headquarters is also regularly scanned for cameras, so there was no risk any cameras placed on the ground would look up our helmets.

"Back to the point, this means under no circumstances is anyone to have any contact or communication with Aiber, Wedy, or Misa. There will also be no face-to-face contact with any of the members of Yotsuba; there is still a possibility Fourth Kira could be a member of their ranks."

Light wanted to roll his eyes. It was obvious what all this was about.

"I have already instructed Aiber and Wedy that if they are unable to communicate with myself, Watari, or this office, they are to assume we are on radio silence and they will receive notice when that is broken," L continued, nibbling on one of the other corners of the scone. "As for Misa, I'm sorry Light but she is not allowed near the building and there is to be no contact with her in any form, not even to tell her what the circumstances are."

"We should at least send her some message," Light said. "She's going to freak out if she can't get through."

"That is a risk we will have to take, though she does understand we are in a very precarious position," L said. "We cannot give her any hints or indications we are aware of the danger. If she is under the control of Kira, Kira might write for her to communicate this to him or the Fourth Kira which could give away any strategies we may have. If she calls your cell phone and gets voicemail too many times, she has seen enough already so she knows you are likely busy, or there possibly is some danger or development in the case. Such vaguer information is less dangerous if communicated with Kira."

It was even more obvious now; Ryuzaki suspected Misa. However, he wasn't going for her directly. This still was a bad sign, but then maybe he actually did suspect she was a tool for a fake Kira and was not moving to arrest her.

Extreme actions were not needed now, though Rem had to keep constant watch.

A subtle beep sounded from the console, a series of new names followed. All eyes shifted immediately to the new development, most with gasps save for Light who simply glared at the monitor. L looked down into the floating crumbs in his coffee, counting 10 rapid ticks from the console before the listing stopped. A sudden silence followed.

Misa did a little more work overnight and all of her victims were being reported by authorities now. He almost wanted to thank her for strengthening his story.

"That…that's 10 more victims," Matsuda said with a heavy sigh.

"This is right around the time any reports from overnight would be released," Soichiro said.

"I guess your second theory was right on, Ryuzaki," Light said, sounding convincingly stunned.

"Yes," L said. "I don't need to remind any of you what this means to our investigation. We cannot let our guards down one moment."

L looked back to see Watari picking a metal briefcase off the cart's bottom shelf. He positioned it on his arm and opened it, revealing three silver cell phones.

"I am going to ask all of you to surrender your personal phones and place them in this case," L said. "These new phones have all of Aiber, Wedy, and Misa's numbers blocked and will block any number dialed within a three meter radius of their known homes, hideouts, and places they frequent. They are also untraceable and they can link with each other in any location. Additionally, all conversations and messages will be monitored over a computer program. These are extreme measures yes, though they are temporary and vital to the safety of the investigation."

"It's a minor inconvenience compared to the circumstances we are under now," Soichiro said, getting up and pulling his phone from his pocket.

He handed it to Watari, who handed him one of the new phones.

Mogi and Matsuda stood right up and handed their phones to Watari, stepping back when he took them.

Light stood up next with his own phone in his hand looking as cooperative as he could be with receiving the new phone from Watari.

L was being so obvious it was almost embarrassing. He was cutting off communications with Misa, the conversation recording was a further deterrent from Light having any more contact with her. It was pretty obvious he wasn't giving up his own cell phone. Aizawa's dirty look in Ryuzaki's direction indicated he noticed the same thing, though he surrendered his own phone knowing it was pointless to call him on it.

L wanted Misa in a nice contained position; it would allow him to follow her pattern and find ways to trap her. Perhaps he was going to guide her toward making a confession, or maybe he detained her already. He was being rather clandestine about this; but not only was he hiding it from the Taskforce, he was hiding it from Rem as well.

Perhaps this would be all Rem needed to finally kill Ryuzaki, though it only looked like Rem would act on an immediate threat. He glanced at her in the back of the room, seeing her still standing with a neutral expression; no moves toward her Death Note, no looks of turning away. This was not an immediate threat, though it was moving in that direction.

Light would have to watch Ryuzaki even more carefully from now on, even if it did mean following him when he said he would take a nap or a shower like he did early that morning. Then again Light couldn't be too obvious about it, it would be a more subtle art now but he would find a way.

As Ryuzaki said himself, extreme measures were only temporary measures. L was doing a good enough job putting a target on himself; Rem was probably close to killing him, though Light couldn't bank on that possibility.

He would have to play along with the silence toward Misa and find a way around these phones. It would take some experimenting, but he would find a blind spot. However, increasing suspicions on Misa likely meant increasing suspicions on him and increased scrutiny, another minor hurdle he would clear soon.

* * *

**1:22 p.m.**

The polish had gone from a shimmering wet to a more glossy color. Misa carefully tapped against her nail, feeling the last coat of polish completely smooth and dry. She shook her hands; the small, flat skull charms against black nails were held perfectly in place by the three coats of clear nail polish.

"Yay it worked," she said, swiveling around in her chair and facing the Shinigami reclining on her bed, displaying her nails proudly. "It looks just like the photo. I am so good at this."

"That is pretty impressive," Ryuk said, taking another bite out of his apple.

Ryuk was just like any other guy; probably just saying things to make her feel good. Most guys didn't care about nail art and Ryuk was probably like most guys in this respect, though maybe he was just being cool.

"Do you think Light will like them," she asked.

"I don't know," Ryuk said. "Light is a pretty hard guy to impress. I know from experience. But I like it."

Misa pulled her chair closer to the bed and right next to Ryuk. He continued eating his apple, head resting against his hand as his side was comfortable sunken into the sheets.

"Now what should I do next," she said, putting on her best wicked grin. She reached her hand out and rubbed it against Ryuk's stiff hair. "I think you would look really good with a red streak here, maybe purple."

Ryuk's perpetual smile stiffened and he looked up at her almost pleadingly.

"Ahh I don't know about that," he said.

Misa giggled and patted his head. He was such a guy.

She rolled her chair back, about to say that makeovers were nothing to be scared of but her words stayed in their place with a knock at the front door. Misa leapt from her chair and onto her stocking feet, lightly padding over to the door.

She leaned her eye into the peephole, seeing no one on the other end but hearing what sounded like running down the hallway. Misa unfastened the bolt and carefully opened the door. She peeked her head out to look down the hallway, seeing the backs of two small females in gothic attire disappear down the stairwell, the sound of nervous giggles going with them. One wore a full Elegant Gothic Lolita dress with a top hat and veil over her hair. The other looked more cyber-goth in a tight black jumpsuit with purple dreads.

Misa wished for a moment she had seen their faces, though her attention was pulled to her doorstep and the bouquet of assorted colorful flowers with a small heart balloon on a stick. She bent down and picked up the package, uncovering a large envelope with what felt like a card inside.

"To: Misa-Misa," read the purple ink on the envelope. "From: Your biggest fans."

Misa smiled and went back inside, closing the door and carefully putting the gifts on the table.

"Gifts from fans," Misa practically squealed. "Oooh this is so sweet!"

Ryuk floated up from the bed, swimming the air in her direction.

"Well wasn't that nice of them," Ryuk said, coming to his feet while putting the core in his mouth. "Are you sure these are just fan gifts?"

Misa brought the bouquet to her nose and inhaled the aroma.

"I'm pretty sure they are," she said. "There's no packages for a bomb or anything, just this envelope. Who knows maybe some creepy pervert did send this, but I'll deal with him."

She chuckled, putting the flowers down on the table and picking up the card. Someone had dabbed some cheap sakura perfume on the card, pretty normal for a gift. Misa opened the envelope and took out a card with a chibi unicorn in a field of lollipops, the words "You're so sweet" underneath it.

An object then slid from the card and onto the floor. Misa looked down to see a green paper sleeve around a disc. She bent down and picked it off the floor with a curious look; carefully removing the disc from the sleeve and seeing Ryuk take a few steps closer out of the corner of her eye.

The disc was plain white, the logo for a recordable DVD on the side next to the words "A message for Misa-Misa" written on it in the same purple pen.

"Looks like they recorded a video for me," Misa said, walking to the TV set at the back of the apartment. "Or it could be some dirty old man doing pervy things."

"What are you gonna do if it is," Ryuk said.

"I'll decide that later," she said with a wink.

She pushed the button opening the tray on the DVD player beside the TV, putting the disc in and switching the TV from the drama she was watching to Video input. The disc drawer closed and she leapt to a cross-legged sit on the floor, aiming the remote at the machine and pressing play.

A blue screen appeared at first but jerked to various images of buildings and streets accompanied by official sounding orchestral music.

"The news of the greater Edmonton area, Canada, and the world," a female announcer said in English. Japanese subtitles appeared on the bottom of the screen. "This is Channel 11's News at Noon."

Misa was passable in English, though the subtitles were helping her understand a bit more.

"Five people escaped injury after the collapse of a downtown scaffolding," another female voice said along with grainy pictures of toppled metal across a city street. The Japanese subtitles continued. "New warnings on the proper use of car seats after a series of accidents. And we continue our coverage of the Prime Minister's visit to China."

Misa furrowed her eyebrows. Did someone record this by accident? No, the Japanese subtitles meant someone made an effort to put this together. This might have been the message but what did it have to do with her?

The image went to a man and woman in suits sitting at a news desk. The woman's red suit had shoulder pads to the moon and her blonde hair was racing against it. The man wore a huge pair of glasses and a bad comb-over.

"Good afternoon, this is CSHM's News at Noon," the female newscaster said. "I'm Toni Janis."

"And I'm Robert Stevenson," her counterpart said.

The woman's name was actually Antonia Rodriguez. Misa had gotten better at reading the numbers and could tell this woman was supposed to live to 101. Misa couldn't tell the real name of the male reporter as there was none above his head; it looked like he died before today.

A rather old-looking graphic appeared on the side of the screen reading "June 18, 1986." A small set of kanji appeared under that graphic as well translating the date.

1986? She was two-years-old then, no she was barely two looking at the date. Maybe this related to her somehow.

"We're following a late breaking story out of Leduc," Toni, or rather Antonia, said. A graphic appeared across the bottom reading "Developing Story" accompanied by the related Japanese translation. "Police are investigating a double homicide in a Black Gold Drive neighborhood. Details are preliminary, though Leduc RCMP has confirmed two people were found dead with blunt force trauma wounds."

Misa's attention piqued a bit more.

"The victim's identities are pending notification of next of kin, though preliminary reports said the victims are a male and female whose bodies were discovered this morning," the newscaster continued.

The image switched to a street surrounded by police cruisers with a crowd of people trying to get any peek of anything going on. A few police officers in brown uniforms calmly directed the crowd to back up.

Misa felt a chill down her spine. An image of a man and woman lying in a pool of blood went through her mind for a moment, but was quickly shut out.

The screen went back to the same news desk.

"We will have more on this developing story on the News at 6," the reporter said.

The screen suddenly went black and lines of static rapidly scrolled up and down. Misa watched the patterns in confusion for a moment before a whining noise from the DVD player caught her attention.

She leapt up and hit the Eject button on the remote. The disc popped out and she removed it from the tray, feeling the disc now warped. She looked underneath to see a pea-sized dent melted into the disc.

Misa threw the disc on the bed with a grunt, shoving the tray back in the DVD player. She watched that disc once and it was ruined already; cheap piece of junk.

"Well that was certainly interesting," Ryuk said. "What do you think it was?"

"How am I supposed to know," she snapped. "What kind of fan gives me such a weird video?"

Who would send something like that and how did it have anything to do with her. This made her head hurt too much.

Misa walked to the black coat rack by the door and yanked off her favorite black sweatshirt with pink fur around the hood.

"Ryuk, I'm getting some air," she said, sliding her feet into a pair of Mary-Jane's by the door and grabbing her purse off the table. "Stay and guard the place or something."

"Okay," Ryuk said, more than a little amused at Misa's sudden meltdown. "I better get some more apples for this."

Misa opened the door and shoved her way out, grabbing her cell phone and speed-dialing Light's number.

* * *

**4:30 p.m.**

The creepy little boy just appeared on the stairs in front of that really annoying nurse, or babysitter, whatever she was. She was still obnoxious and deserved to die.

"Ju-on" was half an hour in and so far there was no skipping or static. Misa glanced at the TV over her laptop screen to see the annoying nanny trying to talk to the dead kid before looking back at her last online photo spread for a perfume company.

She needed to get her headshots updated, maybe get her hair done before that. Misa was tempted to go back on Google and try to find words that would get her some definitive details on any double-murders in Leduc, Canada.

She tried everything until now. Unfortunately the disc broke before she could get all of the Western characters for the city's name, but she found it after looking on a map around the major city of Edmonton. Still no luck; Leduc had more than a few murders in the past few years and there was no information from 1986. When she did add the dates she just got random Google results related to nothing.

Googling wasn't going to help her, but Light probably could. By now she had come to the conclusion that Light was the one who sent that disc. He wanted to keep her engaged and teach her how to solve problems like he did; Light was smart like that and he wanted her to be as smart as he was. That was the only explanation, period. That was the only explanation she liked.

Misa looked on the bed to see her phone sitting beside her. She could hear it ring in her mind, yet it remained still as it had all day. She tried calling Light three times but got his voicemail each time. He was probably in the middle of important "investigation" stuff (like keeping everyone looking the other way), or Ryuzaki was making him do stupid work.

She was tempted to call him again, no she would text him. She didn't want to look too desperate.

No, she was fine right now watching a great movie and planning her next conversation with Motchi about getting her more photoshoots. Writing in the Death Note crossed her mind, she already wrote 10 names last night. Maybe she would check the news later and write some more down.

A series of tones sounded from her phone and it slightly jiggled on the bed. Misa practically leapt off the bed and squealed.

"Light, finally!" she said, looking at the couch and seeing Ryuk shoot her a glance before looking back at the TV set and biting his apple.

Misa opened her phone to see she got a text message, though Light's number was not displayed. Maybe he used one of Ryuzaki's special phones.

Misa opened the text, expecting some apologies from Light for being mean and not returning her calls. That was not what she saw at all.

_Misa,_

_I needed to inform you there has been a serious threat against the police. I can't get into the details but all members of the taskforce are in a protected area and cannot have any communications until this threat is identified, though we do not believe it involves Kira. We are keeping this from the media so your silence is necessary. Don't worry, Light is safe and he says he will contact you soon. If you have any emergency messages, I will text you a safe number to contact later._

_-Ryuzaki_

_PS This message will delete itself in 10 seconds._

Misa looked down at it, watching the number 10 count down. At last it went to zero and her phone let out a beep. The words "Message deleted" appeared on the screen.


	5. After the fiasco, developing story

**Best Laid Plans**

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters are the property of Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata, and Viz Media. I don't own them; I just examine all their possibilities.

**Chapter 4: After the fiasco, developing story**

**January 28, 2005**

**Tokyo**

**12:23 p.m.**

Ide moved his newspaper for the steaming bowl of sliced steak and noodles the waitress put in front of him with a cordial "Here you are, sir."

He gave a nod in thanks, eyes going directly for the bowl as he picked up his chopsticks. He had them positioned in his fingers right when a low ring emitted from his jacket pocket.

Ide rolled his eyes and took out his phone, chopsticks taking hold of a strip of steak. Whoever was calling him would have to endure him eating during the conversation; politeness be damned, he was starving.

He flipped open the phone, Aizawa's cell phone number on display as he put it to his ear. What was this about?

"Ide," he said.

"Ide, it's Aizawa," Aizawa said on the other end through a profound sigh. "I can't say much over the phone so bear with me. I'll just start by saying there has been a massive breakthrough in the case."

The case. That only meant one thing.

Three months ago, the night Kyosuke Higuchi was killed, Aizawa returned to the Taskforce under L; returning to work with the Chief, Light, Matsuda, and Mogi. Aizawa directly took part in Higuchi's arrest and touched the notebook in his briefcase that supposedly showed a Shinigami.

Ide stayed behind; someone had to manage the police and continue the investigation outside of L's authority. L himself even called him a day after Higuchi's death, the usual electronically masked voice offering him a place on the Taskforce. He refused, sparing no details of his reasoning nor any criticism. L politely said he respected his wishes, saying he would allow any member of the Taskforce to share details should he decide to get involved. There was almost a lingering threat that he could call him into assist at any moment. Since then he hadn't heard from anyone in the Taskforce; a ringing declaration to him that L, or Ryuzaki as everyone referred to him as, wasn't sharing a damn thing outside the Taskforce…or at least wasn't sharing until he needed a favor.

Ide also refused to touch the notebook. He considered himself a pretty open-minded individual; open-minded enough to know there were things not of this world he would rather not get into unless he had to. This was one detail he would rather leave to the Taskforce and not get sucked into, stay on the sidelines as a neutral third party. It almost felt like touching the notebook and seeing any creature was a type of contract, whether spiritual or otherwise. Touching the notebook could also have been L's leverage to pull him in regardless of the actual ramifications.

"Ide, it's over and it's an absolute mess," Aizawa said.

Somehow his chopsticks stayed in his fingers. Over?

Ide took a careful look around the restaurant to see no one remotely interested in his conversation; just the usual lunchtime crowd minding their own food and business.

"He's been caught?" Ide whispered.

The pause over the phone told him everything.

* * *

L only now realized his eyes were open.

A white ceiling was a deceptive image, though his brain now registered the man in a uniform and helmet leaning over him and the IV bags in his peripheral vision.

The labels were turned to the other side; Lactated Ringers probably. He was pleased he was able to remember that information.

A computer boots up, it goes through a normal system of checks as all of its programs load one by one. The drive had obvious errors, but was going through its start-up sequence regardless.

The wail of a siren and electronic beep of a heart monitor cut through the ringing in his ears. The paramedics were talking. What they were saying wasn't clear.

"Are you going to be sticking around for a little bit?"

That voice came from the side. It sounded familiar.

Why was Watari so close to him? He was practically leaning in his face, it was somewhat annoying.

Voices in Japanese. What were they saying? Another face was leaning into his, a bright light assaulted his eyes for a moment; one eye, then the other, then back to normal.

"Semi-conscious for the moment, not alert."

"Breathing still shallow."

A time delay usually occurred in audio communication over long distances. A broadcaster talks to a colleague overseas. The colleague pauses and smiles while he or she hears the question.

That was the paramedic speaking. Watari said something a second ago.

It didn't matter. Just details.

* * *

"Yes, he's been caught; no lingering suspicions, no unanswered questions, it's final," Aizawa said with another sigh. "We confronted him today and as of now he is…he is completely under our control; the whole situation to the best of our knowledge is contained. And no this isn't like it was two months ago; this is completely settled, trust me on this."

Ide couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Completely under control" could have meant anything. He knew what Aizawa was going to ask him next and this conversation would lead to either a jail or a morgue.

"We need to combine efforts now, compare notes so this whole thing can get wrapped up once and for all," Aizawa said. Ide swore he heard his voice crack.

Ide paused, putting the piece of steak in his mouth while he took a moment to process what he was hearing. Somehow something still didn't seem right; this seemed too convenient.

"With all due respect Aizawa, is this your request or Ryuzaki's," Ide said before swallowing.

"I'll be honest, he explicitly told me to call you and you alone," Aizawa said, his tone grave. "But you're going to have to take my word for it, this isn't in any way one of his tricks. This is dead serious. We need you at Taskforce headquarters as soon as possible to help clean this up."

"Aizawa, may I ask why Ryuzaki isn't calling me himself and telling me this," Ide said, taking up a wad of noodles and eating them.

He was not at all pleased with the pause.

* * *

L just knew the ice water running through his veins. Now he was aching; a bad stomachache. That's all it was.

Why did his wrist hurt.

A few more programs started. Video feed running. A bloody man grabbing another man by the collar with the last of his adrenaline.

"Aizawa, you're in command. Lock away the notebooks and all scraps until further word from me or Watari. If I die, burn them and give Misa a sufficient story. Get Ide here as an extra hand."

That was a while ago, a light-year ago.

He tasted blood with these words. There was no more blood he could see, but he smelt it. He smelt it with the cool plastic air he breathed now.

"I swear you are going to have some stories to tell after this."

Did Watari's voice just crack?

* * *

"Look you are going to have to understand my position," Ide said.

"I know, this just seems like some ploy to get you back into our end," Aizawa said, his voice cracking again and sounding almost desperate. "I don't blame you for being suspicious given who we're working with. All I can tell you is Ryuzaki…Ryuzaki cannot call you at the moment and he delegated that task to me. Hideki you are going to have to trust me on this one."

Ide swore he heard Aizawa let out a sob. Ide gently laid his chopsticks on the side of the bowl.

"Aizawa, what's going on," Ide said.

He heard a clearer sob, sounding like it disappeared into a sleeve.

* * *

Information delay. Signal weakening.

"Pressure's dropping."

Notebooks.

Notebooks of death, Kira's notebook, Light Yagami's notebook.

Dead. Kira was dead. Light Yagami was dead.

He was too weak to smile. He just wanted to go to sleep. He just wanted to close his eyes.

"You should stay awake a little longer."

Why was Watari's voice cracking?

He didn't want to stay awake. He just closed his eyes.

Why did Watari look helpless?

Entering sleep mode.

* * *

"I can't say anything over the phone, Hideki," Aizawa said, straining his voice to keep from all out tears. "It's…saying it's an emergency is an understatement. It's a total mess over here and the more hands the better."

"Okay, I'll be in your direction soon," Ide said, his body numb. "Half an hour tops."

"That's…that's fine," Aizawa said. It sounded as though he were near tears. "Call me in half an hour, I'll give you our location."

"Aizawa just give me some indication of what I'm walking into," Ide said.

"Nothing dangerous, the situation is as under control as it can be," Aizawa said. "It's a clusterfuck, that's all I can say, but an after-the-fact one."

"Okay, I'll give you a call shortly," Ide said.

The phone went back to its main menu, showing Aizawa abruptly hung up. Ide looked at his lunch for a moment, his appetite suddenly gone.

* * *

**12:30 p.m.**

Another white ceiling. This one had air ducts and lighting; all moving by rapidly. Occasionally a white cap, a green shirt, or a stethoscope caught in the air would flash in his peripheral vision.

The IV bags were still there, one was now smaller and contained a thick red substance. How many of those had they gone through by now? What time was it? What did it matter; he was still alive.

He was alive and Light Yagami wasn't.

The second group of paramedics treated him like another young man with cardiac arrest mixed with bullet wounds. There was going to be no resuscitation, there would be no resurrection for the self-styled savior. His otherworldly patron found him lacking; the false judge was judged himself, Robespierre's head fell on his own guillotine and L watched behind the screen of his own rescuers.

He must have fallen unconscious at that point; allowed a moment of rest. That rest would not be eternal; impossible. So many other threads to tie up, so much other business. This was an unfortunate setback.

A female nurse leaned into his face, her fingers coming to the side of his mouth. An uncomfortable sensation shifted down his throat; a breathing tube. He only now noticed he was breathing, but was not making the effort.

"Can you hear me," the nurse said.

He actually could. He actually registered what she was saying. He felt his neck move in response.

"Semi-conscious with some alertness," she said over to her colleagues.

L swore he heard a few groans in relief.

"You are at Ibaraki Hospital," the woman said, leaning back into his face. "There is a bullet still lodged in your abdominal cavity and we are going to get it out."

Did she even know who she was speaking to? You're speaking to the man who eliminated Kira.

L liked the sound of that, even if it was in his own head. Narcissistic yes, though he was allowed this much.

The wounded warrior parading with his caretakers, too weak to wave to those he saved. Naomi Misora was standing in the audience cheering, Raye Penbar clapping beside her. Even Beyond Birthday looked amused, was that a bow?

No, they weren't here; they were on a side L was not going to go. Impossible. There was so much still to do.

"Pressure's stabilized but still a little low."

"He's good enough to get into the OR and we'll let the surgical team make any decisions."

That sounded promising.

His eyes were assaulted with a piercing glow of fluorescent light. The movement stopped; a new set of people rushed around him. He knew where he was; a familiar scenario.

A few green clad figures draped blue linens over him. A cold, stinging liquid rubbed over his midsection. He looked down, seeing a gloved hand apply a swap of yellow, antibacterial solution; trying to avoid the tightly taped gauze over the hole that was already overflowing with blood.

Another face leaned over his; a Japanese woman in full scrubs and hat wearing a mask.

"I'm just going to give you a shot through your IV and you will fall asleep very shortly."

L looked to the side, the woman was already inserting the needle into an IV port.

This was the moment of anxiousness; the moment when he would go to sleep with no promise of awaking.

No, he had to wake. There was no question about it. He had to see this through to the end.

She slowly pushed down the plunger on the long vile. His skin tingled, lids growing heavy.

Misa's words went through his foggy mind; a few simple sentences that could have been outright lies. Regardless, he decided to consider them truth; some measure of contentment in a black moment.

The fluorescent light faded as his eyes closed, he felt himself slowly drifting and then everything went black.

* * *

**1:23 p.m.**

Aizawa pressed the stop button on the video feed when it ended.

Ide's eyes remained on the now-black screen; he needed a second to process what he had just seen. He slowly turned back to Aizawa to see his colleague still in his chair and staring at the control panel with a grim, tired expression.

What words were there for this? Ide took a few breaths and rubbed his temples.

He didn't want to look to his left, but the urge grew stronger. He wanted to remind himself the creature he saw after touching the Death Note was real and not just a one-time trick of the imagination.

This was a big reason why he didn't want to touch the damn notebook in the first place. The Chief saw a monster, so did everyone else. There were too many witnesses saying the same things at one moment for this to be a hoax and the story too consistent for it to be a product of some hallucinogen. There was a Shinigami there, everyone said so, Ide was willing to take their word for it. He wasn't in the Taskforce, he had no need to see for himself, there were a thousand different legitimate reasons why he didn't touch the notebook; the fact he would rather not have was the ultimate one.

The situation was different now, Ide understood that when he stepped into the hallway for the first time and saw the line of blood droplets on the gray linoleum. When the doors opened to the main control room, the cluster Aizawa referred to over the phone was in plain view.

Ide almost felt guilty for not being here. He wanted to see the final moment, he wanted to be with his comrades when all hell broke loose. Could he have prevented this? No, he couldn't give himself that kind of responsibility. The rope frayed and broke, it only seemed inevitable.

He was involved now; the case was over, Kira was exposed, L was on death watch, there was no room now for separate angles and self-preservation. It had all come to a head and his only place was here.

That's why he touched both notebooks; he was a part of this now. Aizawa knew this too, that was why he got them out of the thick safe after giving the bulk of his briefing. They would be necessary for understanding the calamity he was about to see on the security tape.

Ide slowly looked over, seeing that hideous white face and black grin just a meter away from him. It looked at him in curiosity, possibly waiting for him to scream. No, Ide now realized this was a sight he was already used to. This thing wasn't that horrific to look at, like some kind of morbid doll. The thing that really creeped Ide out now was he had just witnessed this thing murder someone and couldn't really slap cuffs on it.

It was a Shinigami; Shinigami embodied death. This thing wasn't a murderer, it was an executioner. Someone in a uniform under a noose would have done the same thing in…days, months, years? However long the courts or the government allowed Kira…allowed Light Yagami to live.

Maybe Chief Yagami's son would have been given some leniency for his reputation; a life sentence away from the hardened prison population, just do something with him and make it quiet. An ironic twist on Yagami junior's apparent "kill them all" philosophy on criminals. Perhaps L would want him shoved away in a hole for the rest of his life. Maybe they would have locked him in a psych ward; that screeching cackle clawed long scars into Ide's brain.

The fact Light Yagami was Kira was another fact Ide tried to keep out of his head until he was grounded enough to realize what that meant. There were no lingering doubts now, no whispers, no "What are the chances that…" The presentation of facts felt like a gangbang.

Ide looked back over at Aizawa, seeing him still gazing at the wall and cupping his face in his hands. Ide could not imagine what was going through his head right now.

Ide's eyes wandered back to the pool of blood on the floor. He never met L in real life, but he saw his blood in living color; still wet in the center yet drying on the edges. It was an irony deserving of an uneasy laugh that never happened. His gaze trailed to the red spatters across the linoleum. The entire center of the floor was covered in blood dotted with a few shell casings while a mess of spent bullets were farther away. The one .38 revolver still sat on the floor by the right wall. It was the calm after the storm.

He looked up again at the Shinigami, a sight that ceased to scare him. There were more human horrors in the room right now, this was almost a distraction.

"Aizawa, where are the others," Ide managed to choke out while looking back at Aizawa.

Aizawa stood a little straighter and took a deep breath.

"I'll show you," he said.

Ide took a few careful steps closer to the controls, practically tip-toeing around the edge of Ryuzaki's blood pool. Aizawa pushed a few buttons and looked at the screens. One image came into view of a hallway and Mogi pacing up and down with the occasional pause like a security guard making the rounds.

"Misa and Matsuda are in two of those rooms," Aizawa said.

"Suicide watch?" Ide said with a sigh.

Aizawa didn't reply. He pushed another button, pulling up a screen of what looked like a hotel suite. Matsuda was lying face first on a couch, arms in a death lock around an overstuffed pillow in which he practically buried his face. His head would occasionally turn to show red cheeks and a mess of tears.

Aizawa pressed another button to reveal another room. The first thing Ide noticed was the white Shinigami he saw in the video. It was sitting on the floor, Misa's arms were wrapped around its bony waist and she leaned her face against its ribcage-like chest sobbing. Ide heard indecipherable wails over the audio that made his stomach drop a little more. The Shinigami was actually embracing her, one claw-like hand patting her head and the other gently rubbing her back.

"The Chief and Watari are probably at the hospital, if not the morgue," Aizawa said. "I'm getting a little anxious for some phone call."

Aizawa pressed another button and cut the feed. An uncomfortable silence filled the room.

"Where do we go from here," Ide said. "Ryuzaki put you in charge, what's your take."

Ide was not thrilled with another round of silence, but he could hear Aizawa shifting in his seat.

"Wait and see," Aizawa said. "Kira is supposedly contained; Light's dead, Misa's under watch, we have the notebooks and the Shinigami right here. The only call I can make right now is watch the feeds and see if any more names pop up. As for the rest, wait until the dust settles."

Ide nodded.

"Just how the hell are we going to handle this," Ide said. "What comes next?"

"I don't even want to think about that now," Aizawa said. "All I want is some word from the Chief and something definitive on Ryuzaki's status before I can even think of the next step."

Ide looked again at the Shinigami.

"If that next step includes some apples, I would be greatly appreciative," the creature said.

Ide's mind went blank. A nervous chuckle managed to sneak out; this was so absurd it was funny.

"How do you like your apples," Ide asked.

Three high-pitched tone sounded from the control panel. The screens turned white and a large W appeared. Ide turned heel around. Aizawa slid down to Ryuzaki's usual place, one finger poised to press the button though he paused for a moment before opening the connection.

"Hello Watari," Aizawa said.

"Aizawa-san, has Ide-san arrived yet," Watari said, voice in it's usual soft, businesslike tone.

"I got here about 45 minutes ago," Ide said.

"Good, welcome to our headquarters," Watari said. "I have a preliminary update on Ryuzaki. He went into surgery nearly an hour ago. All we know is the bullet ruptured his spleen and caused some damage to his stomach. There is a possibility it may have clipped a major vein in his midsection, but that has yet to be determined. His condition is critical, though he appears stable for the time being. I will give more updates as I receive them."

Aizawa and Ide exchanged an uneasy glance.

"Has there been any word from Chief Yagami," Watari asked.

Ide's blood ran cold with the question, Aizawa's shiver indicating the same thing.

"Nothing as of yet," Aizawa said. "We were actually hoping to hear something from you as you two seem to be in the same general location."

The audio went silent for a moment. Aizawa and Ide exchanged another glance, Aizawa closing his eyes and sighing.

"Unfortunately I have not," Watari said, voice still perfectly calm. "I will let you know if I do hear from him, and I would appreciate any word if you receive it."

"We definitely will if we hear anything," Aizawa said.

"Good," Watari said. "In the meantime conduct as much business as you need to there. If you prefer, we do have a cleaning staff on call that is completely trustworthy and experienced in handling these types of jobs. If you have need of their services, let me know and they can be there in less than half an hour."

Ide stared at the screen in disbelief, but this wasn't exactly a surprise. He heard the Shinigami chuckle a little behind him. Aizawa shook his head a little and rubbed his temples.

"They will follow any specific instruction you give them," Watari said.

"I will let you know when we have need of such a service," Aizawa said. "We will need to take care of some business on our end first."

"Understood."

"Watari, give my best to Ryuzaki," Aizawa said. "Ide sends his regards as well."

Ide nodded. The audio went silent again for a moment.

"Thank you, they are much appreciated," Watari said, his voice sounding a little breathier. "I will contact you with any updates."

The W disappeared from the screen and the monitors went black.


	6. The vague message is clear

**Best Laid Plans**

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters are the property of Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata, and Viz Media. I don't own them; I just examine all their possibilities.

This story contains details and background stories I have given to individual characters. As a result, any character details that differ from canon is the result of my background stories and not a lack of knowledge about canon. Any comments correcting me or debating with me on this will be deleted without reply.

**Chapter 5: The vague message is clear **

**November 9, 2004**

**Tokyo**

**10:16 a.m.**

L picked up a small cream puff from the stack on the plate in front of him on the glass coffee table. He licked some of the powdered sugar off before nibbling into the pastry, feeling the eyes of the Taskforce members boring into him.

"The first victims were reported on November 5 with records indicating they died between 5 p.m. on November 4 and 3 p.m. on November 5," L said.

He paused to lick up some of the vanilla cream.

"This means the deaths have been reported over the past five days," L continued, gaze fixed on the pastry though he could see the other Taskforce members in his peripheral vision. All but Light were sitting down on the couches on both sides of him. Light leaned on the top of one couch while keeping half an eye on the computers. "In the past five days there have been a total of 54 deaths; 16 between November 4 and 5, 10 between the 5th and 6th, seven the next period, 12 on the fourth day, and, as we have just seen, nine were reported this morning.

"To break it down even further, 27 victims were reported in Japan, 14 in the United States, four in Italy, three in the United Kingdom, two in Canada, and one each in Brazil, France, Israel, and South Africa."

L took a large bite out of his pastry and licked some of the cream from the side of his lip. He could see the somber looks on each member's faces.

"As we have discovered over the past five days due to everyone's diligent research, all of the victims were either accused of or convicted of a crime. The crimes have ranged from the most heinous — murder, sexual assault, and the like — to the least severe —shoplifting, purse snatching, perjury, et cetera. All the victims' crimes had been reported in the media, whether television, print media, internet, or any combination. Some of these criminals had also been killed despite being identified in the media only by a pseudonym or common alias."

L chomped down the rest of his cream puff, delicately licking the tips of his fingers. Aside from the crunching and slurping of his own breakfast, the only other sound he could hear in the room was the whirr and blipping of computers and the uneasy breaths and shifting of his colleagues.

"Based on these patterns, I have come to the conclusion that, at the moment, the Fourth Kira is focused on killing criminals," L continued. "We will have to look for any other sudden death patterns as we found with Yotsuba. The Fourth Kira has been keeping a relatively steady and aggressive rate of killing; seven to 16 victims a day does make a rounded-up average of 11 killings per day though it has only been five days. It looks from these figures as if Kira gave relatively simple instructions to his new accomplice: 'Kill several criminals a day' sounds about right. 'Kill as many as you can in a steady pace to make it obvious, but don't overdo it; do this until I contact you and tell you the next phase of the plan has been completed.' That next phase we can assume is Kira's direct assault on the Taskforce."

Light tried not to smile and resisted the temptation to look at Rem's hulking form in the corner. There was a simple phrase for this moment; inevitability. L was moving closer to where he wanted him.

L picked up another cream puff from the plate and bit into it.

"However, I have decided it is best to take Matsuda and Mogi partially off quarantine," L said.

The two in question let out surprised gasps.

"I still believe they are vulnerable to manipulation, however if they are contacted by any suspicious party that would provide us with essential information on the next move," L said around a full bite before swallowing. "Watari will be by shortly with the same modified cell phones for the both of you."

"Oh that's great, Ryuzaki!" Matsuda said.

"That means you're going to be bait," Aizawa said, sparing no bite in his tone.

Matsuda's enthusiasm dimmed slightly, though he did not look entirely discouraged.

"But this will make us a greater part of the investigation," Matsuda said. "I actually like the whole danger aspect of this."

Soichiro sat back with his arms folded, staring forward with a less-than-pleased expression but saying nothing. He clearly hated the idea, though Matsuda and Mogi were already in harm's way. There was nothing he could really say about this and there was nothing L could say to explain the situation any better.

"I will also allow you on computers. However all your computer and phone activity will be carefully monitored," L said. "You will be allowed out of the building, but only after being fitted with a tiny camera and microphone to watch your actions. I will also recommend that no other member of the Taskforce be seen in public with either of you; the connection would be too obvious."

"That's fine by me," Matsuda said.

"Completely understood," Mogi said with a nod.

"There is still to be no contact with Misa, Aiber, or Wedy," L said before licking a dollop of cream out of his pastry. "Matsuda and Mogi have been in our sight and have been since the killings started, the same cannot be said for any of the others. However, Matsuda and Mogi's phones will be able to accept calls from any of them though they cannot call out to them. This is, of course, if they are controlled into contacting either of them."

L was obviously staying on the same track, perhaps he wasn't running for the edge as Light hoped but he was still around there if not closer; Matsuda and Mogi had been cut some slack, but Misa was still under full quarantine. Apparently Mogi and Matsuda would have some access to Misa; it was a possible opening though Light knew he had to assess all options before making any moves. This whole situation was still dynamic; he would have to wait until some of the dust settled.

"With all five of you potentially vulnerable to control, it should go without saying that if any member of the Taskforce dies you all would be under immediate scrutiny," L said. "Even if any member becomes seriously ill or injured, Matsuda and Mogi should go back under strict quarantine. I would also want Misa, Aiber, and Wedy put under close watch and investigated for any contact with suspicious parties or even any possession of a notebook."

Rem tried not to show her jaw drop and held in a gasp.

Light's face grew hot but he kept his neutral expression.

That bastard. Of course this would be his next move with this story he concocted; Kira is waiting in the wings to infiltrate the Taskforce and can do so with the five who showed their faces during the Yotsuba investigation. Of course if anything did happen to anyone, there were only five candidates to look to. L pulled this same thing the day Misa was arrested; "If I'm killed in the next few days I've told Yagami-san, the Taskforce members, and the other L's to assume that 'Light Yagami is Kira.'"

Light practically forgot about the threat when Misa showed up a minute later. Besides if he had L's name then and killed him that day, he could smooth over the rest with his dad. if Ryuzaki died in an accident, he would brew up some tears and dad would forget about the whole threat because he probably thought it was bogus anyway…that is if Ryuzaki actually made the threat to the Taskforce.

The Taskforce would be negotiable on this matter, Rem would not.

Rem knew killing L now would put Misa in immediate danger. Even if L himself wasn't around to carry out this order, the Taskforce probably would. Unless Light Yagami planned otherwise, they would find the Death Note and arrest Misa; Misa would probably be accused of the killing Rem did herself. If Rem wrote Ryuzaki's name down now, she would die and destroy Misa in the process.

Light Yagami probably wanted her to write the name down anyway, maybe he did have some sort of plan. No, she didn't know that and taking that chance was beyond foolish. He deserved no benefit of the doubt.

That didn't mean she would take her eyes off Ryuzaki; he was still a threat.

Did L know what Light planned? Light dismissed the idea before but now it was becoming clearer that may have been the case. Ryuzaki would never know the full plan, but he probably suspected something. Light thought that maybe he had asked a little too fervently about punishments for Kira. Maybe L saw too many coincidences happening at once; he never stopped suspecting Light and Misa and Light knew he was probably acting suspicious.

Or maybe he thought he was acting suspicious because it was his plan. That had to be it. Light scolded himself for the sudden lack of confidence, but he had to be aware of this possibility. For all he knew, maybe Ryuzaki really thought there was a Fourth Kira and Misa was only a potential pawn by a shadowy Kira; though the chances of that happening were nonexistent.

"Though if the unthinkable happens, I sincerely hope all factors will be taken into account before any rash decisions are made," Soichiro said.

By "all factors," it was clear Chief Yagami was likely concerned about any preexisting medical conditions. He would not want to see people arrested if he had any more problems with his heart or if anyone else were to fall ill. The investigation was infinitely stressful on all.

"I assure you, no one will go to prison just because someone fell ill," L said, biting into another cream puff and jumping up from his seat. "The five will probably be searched and their contacts checked for any suspicious parties. If someone were to die, they would probably be detained to control the situation, though under comfortable circumstances until the situation requires otherwise."

This could open up another outlet. What would happen if Ryuzaki's little trap was triggered on any other member of the Taskforce, even if the Death Note wasn't involved? It was worth testing. Call L's bluff, have the trap triggered, and see what Rem would do to him after seeing Misa strapped in again.

Light didn't like the idea of hurting anyone with his own hands, but sacrifices could be needed. Or he could find a way to harm himself; a fall down some stairs or even shallowly cutting his wrists would do the trick. Rem could have written his name down on principle, but under the circumstances that might not happen.

Ultimately Light had to communicate to Rem that Misa was in more danger with Ryuzaki alive than dead. She had to understand Ryuzaki was the one making the orders; if he was gone, his word died with him. No one else in the Taskforce liked this idea and if Ryuzaki died Light just needed to say the right things and the whole order was forgotten. Obviously he couldn't say this out loud now. Somehow Rem had to be convinced that killing L would ultimately protect Misa.

L walked towards the main control panel, seeing the Chief's scowl tighten and Aizawa turn his head slightly to roll his eyes. Matsuda and Mogi looked unphased and Light was as cool as could be, but the gears were turning.

This move was a risk he had carefully debated before deciding to move forward. It would be strategically safer to continue forward quietly and pretend he didn't see the looming trap; taking this high ground right now could tip Light off that something was going on. However, it was best to play his hand. This wasn't just a shielding, this was also a way to grab Light's attention so he could lead it in any direction he wanted. This front of his plan was all about distraction; if Light thought something was going on he would look for the most immediate indicators, all of which L would provide.

L was aware the move would only go so far with the Shinigami. On one end, he was communicating to the Shinigami that protecting its master would still get that master harmed. However nothing was stopping the Shinigami from killing him to just get him out of the way, call his bluff, or shut him up. If anyone did die and Misa was detained, the Shinigami could still write down the names of everyone who went near her. Still, he had to try something.

"Still, it has only been five days," L said, hopping onto his seat at the computer and coming to a crouch. "We need to continue analyzing the pattern of deaths, at least until such a time as we can find the profile of who Kira chose and I believe we're getting closer."

L logged into his system and accessed a worldwide map where the killings had occurred so far. His attention subtly focused on the two killings in Canada.

One was a 21-year-old man in Edmonton who was in a drug treatment facility after shooting and killing a convenience store clerk during an armed robbery three years ago. The other a 46-year-old woman from Leduc serving a 25-year sentence at Edmonton Institution for Women for stabbing another woman to death at a party.

Two deaths in Canada, both criminals who had been convicted of their crimes before Kira. Since the Sakura TV incident with the Second Kira, the country's broadcasting regulatory commission banned showing the photos of criminals and several papers refused to print them. Regardless, one criminal from Edmonton was dead and the other was specifically from Leduc. A male and female; both accused of violent homicide.

Someone was trying to send a message.

L entered a series of specific keystrokes. It looked like he was just accessing information, though a heavily encoded message was sent to Watari with the press of a few keys:

"24 hours."

* * *

**November 10, 2004**

**Tokyo**

**2:04 p.m.**

Misa moved her keys to her left hand, her right hand sliding the two shopping bags to her arm so she could grab the door handle and close it.

"Oh you have no idea how hard it's been to find decent go-go boots," she said, seeing Ryuk float through the wall into the apartment. "I've looked everywhere for the kind they had in the 60s but all of it was just vinyl nightmares. I owe Suki a gift basket next time I'm in her store, she is a total lifesaver."

"Well that would be nice," Ryuk said.

"I mean I thought vintage was the big thing, but I guess designers…"

The sight of a white envelope on the floor broke her train of thought. She stood for a second and looked at it.

It was a wide envelope right by the doorframe, it looked like someone slid it under the door. The words "To Misa" were written in black ink with a heart under it.

Misa dropped the two shoe store bags and two grocery bags she had in her hands to the floor and nearly stumbled over her feet to reach for the envelope. She felt a hard surface immediately after picking it up, a further feel revealed a round edge; a DVD.

"Another message from Light!" she practically squealed.

The tip of a black fingernail found the corner of the opening and tore the envelope open, revealing another white recordable DVD.

"Have you figured out yet why he's sending you these?" Ryuk asked, leaning over Misa's shoulder and getting a closer look.

"I still don't know for sure, but I think he's sending me clues about something important," Misa said. "Or he knows it's going to be a long time before he can make his next move so he's giving me a little puzzle in the meantime."

Misa swiftly walked to the TV and turned it on.

"At first I thought he wanted me to kill that reporter in the first video, like maybe she had made some statement against Kira," Misa continued. "But I found out online that she works behind the scenes now at a big TV station, probably because she's gotten old and ugly. I did find out Canada's broadcasting ministry banned airing criminal's images, so I thought Light wanted to punish Canada like start killing newscasters with a message saying 'Start showing criminal's faces again.'"

"Well did you?" Ryuk asked.

"No, I think Light just wants to have criminals die for now, show the world and L that Kira is actually back," Misa said. "If Light had big plans I'm sure he'll find a way to tell me."

"But you haven't heard from Light since you got the last disc," Ryuk said. "Didn't you say L sent you a message about him being under protection?"

"That's probably why he sent the first one the way he did," Misa said, finding the Video input button. "Light's a genius and getting those girls to give me that disc was brilliant. I killed two people in that city to tell Light I got the message. Now he just needs to send me an envelope and he knows I'll know it was from him."

"That was a very smart move on his part," Ryuk said.

"Oh one more thing," Misa said.

She skittered a few steps to the couch and picked up a Chococat notepad and a pen topped with a plastic skull beside it.

"I should probably take some notes if that thing is going to melt again," she said.

Misa dropped the pad and pen on the floor. She then picked up the envelope and pressed the Eject button on the DVD tray. She hit the Video key on the remote and put the disc in the tray, pressing it closed.

Misa then plopped to a cross-legged sit on the floor, snatching up the pad and pen with one hand and grabbing the remote with the other. She pressed Play and watched the screen intently.

The screen was white at first and then rolled with some static that turned into the image of a news truck going down a highway with various blue graphics going over it. A familiar-sounding orchestral medley followed.

"This is the News at 6 on CSHM," a male voice said, the appropriate Japanese script at the bottom as before.

Misa shook her fists in glee with a low squeal.

An image came on the screen of police lights against darkened houses.

"Late breaking developments on a brutal double homicide in a Leduc," a female voice said. "Police have identified the victims and are still looking for answers."

Misa let out a gasp. A few other news previews passed, but the full message was sinking in. It was the same murders; maybe Light wanted her to focus on this crime in particular. She wondered what he had in mind.

The camera panned to a news desk and a skinny blonde with pink lipstick in a blue suit with those disgusting shoulder pads. She had a flower scarf on too that looked really ugly. The date in the corner of the screen further reminded her of why: June 18, 1986.

"Good evening, thank you for watching the News at 6 I'm Andrea Brodie," the newscaster said.

Surprisingly that was her real name, but she only had a few years left.

"'A grisly scene' is how authorities are describing the backyard of a Leduc neighborhood after a man and a woman were found beaten to death this morning," Andrea said, a graphic appearing beside her with images of a chalk outline and a police car with the words "Murder" beside it. Misa wanted to hurl something at the screen. "Mark Forrest is on the scene tonight with the details."

The screen split to show the chick in the newsroom and a young man in a suit standing beside a police car.

"Good evening, Andrea," the reporter, Marcus Pelczak, said. The camera focused entirely on him. "Police remain on the scene in this mobile home park on Black Gold Drive where two people were found dead, the victims of what police have described as a savage beating."

The screen changed to a series of shabby-looking trailers surrounded by police tape and gawking crowds pushed back by police.

"A 911 call was placed around 8:30 this morning reporting two bodies found on a lawn at Oak Ridge Mobile Home Park," Mark said in a voiceover. "Leduc RCMP responded to the scene to find two people lying dead of apparent blunt force trauma. Police have identified the victims as 32-year-old…"

The name was said, though the kanji on the bottom only said "female victim." The name sounded like "Share-ill A-miss," Misa scrawled phonetic spelling on her pad, she would probably put an equivalent English name to it later.

"…and 35-year-old…"

The kanji said "male victim." Misa wrote "A-Mill Lo-lee-ay."

A grainy photo appeared on screen with the words "Courtesy Photo" written on the side with their corresponding kanji underneath.

The photo showed a man and a woman; the man was behind the woman with his arms around her waist. His chin was buried in the crook of her neck and they gave gleeful smiles to the camera.

Both of them looked like thugs. The guy had this long black braid over his shoulder and a scraggly goatee. He was really thin, he didn't look like he showered in a while either. The girl was chunky and had on a pink tank top that looked way too small on her. Her hair was a teased, bleached nightmare with thick blue eyeliner to match.

"Police said the bodies were found in the back of 'Lo-lee-ay's' house," the voice said, the camera returning to the taped-off scene. The kanji still read "male victim." "Autopsy results are expected to be released tomorrow morning, Police say the investigation is very-much ongoing and there are no immediate suspects or motives at this time."

The camera panned to the other shabby-looking trailers in the neighborhood.

"The murder has shocked residents of this close-knit neighborhood," the voice said. "Few residents wished to speak on camera, but neighbors described the two as a loving couple. 'Lo-lee-ay' was recalled as a devoted father who worked hard for his three young children after his wife was killed in an accident last year."

A scruffy-looking guy in a red tank top appeared on screen.

"They both were terrific," the guy said, the name read Mike Colby but there was no name above his head. "He was like the greatest dad, she was like a mom to those kids. They talked about getting married, two of the sweetest people you could ever meet. Now," he fought back tears, "now there's three little kids don't have a dad because of this…this is insane. It's just not fair."

Misa realized felt the notepad bouncing off her knees. Her hands were shaking.

The camera returned to the same reporter by the cop car.

"Police made no specific comment on who is caring for the children right now," Mark said. "They said arrangements are being made and the three school-age children are in a safe place. We will have more on this story as it develops. Live from Leduc, Mark Forrest for CSHM News."

Black and white lines rolled over the screen again and the image faded to black. A whining noise emitted from the DVD player, but Misa didn't get up immediately. Here eyes were still on the TV; she stared at the black though tears now blurred her vision.

She managed to stand and walked to the DVD player, pressing the eject button and taking the disc out. Misa took one look at the melted spot in the disc before throwing it across the room.

Her knees gave out and she slowly lowered into a pile on the floor, burying her head in her hands and sobbing.


	7. With enemies like these

**Best Laid Plans**

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters are the property of Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata, and Viz Media. I don't own them; I just examine all their possibilities.

This story contains details and background stories I have given to individual characters. As a result, any character details that differ from canon is the result of my background stories and not a lack of knowledge about canon. Any comments correcting me or debating with me on this will be deleted without reply.

**Chapter 6: With enemies like these…**

**November 10, 2004**

**Tokyo**

**8:46 p.m.**

Misa tapped a fingernail on the desk in synch with the blinking cursor that rested beside the word "Lolier."

She blinked a few times and managed to pry her gaze away from the name in the field to look down at the clock. Doing so, however, would mean she would have to skim over the latest page of useless search results. She had processed through pages and pages of these and was only now realizing this stupid task had gone on for the past several hours; save for one hour of crying hysterically after the video and the hour she spent getting coffee just to clear her head.

That little excursion around the block, which became 10 blocks, ended less than an hour ago. By then she had returned to her apartment with headache minimized and eyes stinging a little less ready to begin the search anew with a few more ideas and a clearer perspective. This was the most authentic sounding spelling she could come up with. This should have worked.

The clock said 8:46, half an hour since the last time she looked at it yet she had not done anything else since but look at that last page of search results.

That was it. She wanted to hurl the laptop but was too exhausted to do anything but fall back against bed with a high-pitched groan.

"Just what the hell does he want me to do!" she said yelled, voice on the edge of a sob but she was done crying over this.

She grabbed a pillow and chucked it. Ryuk took a few steps closer at the right moment for the pillow to go through his chest and onto the floor. Ryuk looked down for a moment before cautiously looking at Misa.

"I've looked everywhere for these people, every website, every crime info database," Misa said.

"This sounds like quite a puzzle," Ryuk said, ducking as another pillow went past his head.

"I've done all I could," Misa said, rolling over on her stomach and burying her face in the pillow. "I know he wants me to find out about these people, but why? Does he want me to find who killed them? Does he want me to find who they were? I know he wants me to do something with this, but I'm so stupid I just can't figure it out."

Misa hit the sides of the mattress with her fists, then suddenly stopped.

"No, I'm not stupid. He's being a jerk," she said. "I don't know how to do smart things like hack into stuff. Does he want me to go all the way to Canada to find this out, and write names down at the same time? Yeah right! He doesn't even call me, just gets Ryuzaki to send me a weird message. That was five days ago!"

She punched the pillow a few times for good measure before sliding to her side and slowly pulling herself to a sit.

"I don't know what he expects me to do with this and I don't care," she said. "He's going to have to send me another one of these stupid things because I'm not moving until he does!"

"Knowing Light, I'd guess he has a few more tricks up his sleeve than this," Ryuk said, cautiously walking forward. "I don't think he would set this up just to send out two of those discs and have that done with. That guy's working on something."

Misa gave a hard grunt and crossed her arms. Ryuk was right; Light had elaborate plans for everything. This seemed too incomplete to go by alone.

This whole thing was shaking her to the core. This was a duty given to her from Light; a puzzle she would need to decipher but she had made no progress. This was also a story of three children who were orphaned in a heinous crime. Such murderers were usually on her top priority list for having their names written down, but here she had no names. It was all one big question shoved in her face; she didn't like questions.

Misa took a few deep breaths, slowly channeling her frustration.

Maybe Light was trying to teach her patience. He had been on the receiving end of more than a few moments of her losing her cool. Light was always so calm and came up with solutions and ideas so quickly. Maybe this was a way for Light to show her how to be more like him. She was receiving an important lesson; maybe that was the overall purpose of this.

Soft electronic music suddenly broke the quiet; the happily familiar sound of her favorite Nightmare ringtone. Misa jumped from her bed and practically ran over to the table.

"Light!" she squealed.

She ripped open her purse and pulled out her phone. The number wasn't listed, but it wouldn't have been. Her hand was shaking so hard that she almost missed the green button.

"Hello," she practically yelled into the phone.

"Amane-san, it's Ryuzaki."

She yanked the phone from her ear and shook her fists hard, stomping a few times and gritting her teeth to keep herself from screaming. Misa took a few breaths to calm herself and put the phone back up.

"Oh hi Ryuzaki," she said in her sweetest voice, even if it was faked. She was an actress after all. "You're calling to tell me I can have my boyfriend back, right?"

"I wish that were the case," the troll on the other end said. "The threat to the police has not passed, unfortunately it might be a bit more serious than we originally thought."

Misa furrowed her eyebrows a little.

"Light's still ok, right," she said.

"I assure you he is safe at the moment and working diligently to isolate the threat," Ryuzaki said. "In the meantime I have managed to secure a safe line so you can communicate with him. It will have to be by text message only for the time being, voice messages will still be too risky at this moment. I am talking to you from a temporary connection that I will have to shut down in a few minutes, but I will send you a text with the secure number. Relay all text messages to Light there."

"And is Light the only one who will access this," Misa said, realizing her calm façade was breaking apart. "I don't want you reading our love letters, you pervert."

"I assure you, they will go to him and him alone," Ryuzaki said. "Misa, I know this is difficult but Light told me he doesn't want you in any danger."

Misa's hands shook a little harder.

"He said that?" she said.

"He told me once the danger has passed and the threat has been eliminated, he will call you right away," Ryuzaki said. "In the meantime send only important messages to this number. He may not be able to reply immediately but he will reply."

"Yeah well I've got a message for my boyfriend; tell him he's doing a great job scaring his girlfriend and he needs to get back to her right away," Misa said.

"I will certainly relay the message," Ryuzaki said, a sigh sneaking out. "Another thing, Misa; if you feel threatened or are contacted by any suspicious parties you need to notify the police immediately."

A fresh coating of sweat formed on the phone.

"This is major reason why Light and the rest of the Taskforce are isolated right now, it is a possibility this threat might target family members and significant others," Ryuzaki continued.

"Ok, could you tell me just what the hell this 'threat' is."

"I still cannot say anything and I will have to close this line in the next 60 seconds. But I will say the threat to the police means that Mogi will also be unavailable to serve as your manager."

"Oh…yeah I guess that means that"

She had forgotten about that detail, there were other more important things to deal with at the moment.

"I have worked out an arrangement with Hayashi Models, they are a very reputable company and are excited to take you on for as long as Mogi is unavailable. They will be contacting you soon."

Misa recognized the name of the agency, but anything Ryuzaki was saying grated on her last nerve.

"That's great," she said not too enthusiastically.

"Misa, as a friend, I just ask that you please be careful," Ryuzaki said.

"Wow, Ryuzaki, I might think you actually care about me. But I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself!"

"I don't doubt that. I will send you that number and you will hear from someone soon."

The line went dead. She tossed the phone on the bed with a grunt. A few electronic beeps went off almost in response; the text from Ryuzaki with the "safe number."

"Stupid Ryuzaki!" Misa spat. "Enjoy being a jerk while you can."

* * *

**8:55 p.m.**

The bar of soap passed under his arms and over his chest repeatedly. It had been two days since his last shower and Light couldn't scrub the sweat and grime off his body fast enough. Two days meant two days of stewing under those fluorescent lights immersed in a roomful of bodies working at all hours and sweating with the heat and stress of simple words on paper and computer screens.

By any one else's standards, he was perfectly clean; a little disheveled maybe but completely passable in polite society. By his own standards he was a mess. Going this long without showering was unacceptable; though sometimes shallow diligence had to slip in favor of more important matters.

It also provided him with a good excuse to pry himself away from L. He needed to keep constant watch on him, but if he lingered too long L would definitely get suspicious. Light knew he would be lucky if going this long without bathing had escaped L's notice. When they were chained together, he and L bathed at least once a day in a locker-room style shower. Despite his otherwise slovenly appearance, L was also a creature of cleanliness and almost certainly noticed Light's habits to that end as well.

This would all have to be a delicate balancing act; keeping an eye on L while trying to look natural. This was even more pressing with the fact L clearly suspected him already; dammit why didn't Rem write his name down before!

A shadow passing by the shower stall made Light freeze. This was essentially a private room; at least seven of these small bathrooms were placed on this floor within a short walk of the main control area. It had been enough to accommodate everyone working on the Taskforce to do their business in private. There were probably cameras in here, but Light had gotten used to this by now.

Someone was in here now. Maybe someone wanted to talk with him in private, or maybe someone was sent to spy on him, though there could be a worst case scenario to this. Light resumed his bathing, though did so at a more purposeful pace. He didn't want to appear suspicious here either.

The shadow moved a little, though seemed to just walk into the room casually. Light rinsed himself off while keeping an eye on the shadow. At last he finished and turned the shower off, opening the door and stepping into the stall, grabbing his towel. He heard another noise in the room; the sound of someone using the urinal. It was probably someone who wanted to speak with him; a spy or assassin wouldn't be as obvious. No, there was one person who would be this obvious.

Light put the towel around his waist and slowly pulled the curtain back. Ryuzaki's usual slouching form was planted right in front of the urinal, back turned and doing the usual act.

"Light-kun," L said, finishing his business. "Pardon the intrusion, but I wanted this to be in private."

Light rolled his eyes as L zipped his jeans and turned around, stepping over to the sink.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about something, mostly concerning Misa," L said, stepping up to the sink and pressing the soap pump several times before turning on the tap.

If only Shinigami could be called over with a thought, even a whistle would have been convenient.

L washed his hands, saying nothing further; the sound of the water only marking the tension. He finally turned the water off and grabbed the small cotton towel from the rack on the wall, drying off every bit of water on his hands without saying a word.

"Though I suppose this is actually more concerning you," L finally said, folding the towel with the first fingers of each hand and delicately putting it back on the rack.

He turned around, walking directly up to Light a little closer than Light would have liked.

"While Misa has been cut off from communication, I think it is best if she does keep herself occupied," L said. "Mogi was acting as her manager during the Yotsuba investigation, but obviously that is something that cannot happen now."

Light remained calm, though was a little taken aback by the direction this conversation was going in.

"You think she needs a new manager," Light said. "Get her some modeling jobs so she stays distracted."

Some clouds lifted in a part of his brain; maybe this would lead to an opportunity, though he doubted L would let him that far.

"Communications have been made with one agency I know of and Misa should have been contacted by now," L said. They will tell her that Mogi is unavailable and he told them to manage her affairs on a temporary basis. This should throw off any suspicion; she should figure this is business as usual for us without tipping her off."

Of course. L didn't say who contacted the agency, though he probably didn't need to. In fact he was making a point not to name the agency. Odds were he contacted Watari through highly secret means, who contacted another one of L's well-paid or well-blackmailed cronies to do it or talk to someone who would. L wouldn't do something so openly; Light had to be aware of this. The fact he was even bringing this up could have been a smokescreen for the fact Misa had actually been arrested in secret. No, even this was a little too blatant for that.

"I will inform you my instructions included telling Misa that you encouraged this," L said. "It was the only way I could ensure she would cooperate and not suspect anything."

Light really didn't care, Ryuzaki probably never contacted any agency anyway. A caring boyfriend, however, would have been none too happy about the circumstances. He paused for a moment, making himself look like this bothered him on some level though he was handling it stoically.

"That's fine," Light said with a sigh. "If it's going to be best for Misa in the long run, then I'm willing to cooperate."

Those creepy eyes fixed on his for one painfully silent moment.

"How have you been taking this?" L said, voice softening. "I know you have developed feelings for Misa, and then Kira returns right as you two are free to pursue your relationship. That has to be difficult."

Light tried not to show his surprise at the question. It was a good moment for him to keep playing the worried boyfriend; make some attempt at looking natural and possibly ease suspicion. Whether L bought it or not was another story, Light just had to look calm.

Light paused for a moment and sighed heavily.

"I'm not going to lie to you, Ryuzaki, I hate this whole thing," Light said, keeping up an act of looking finally free to speak his mind. "This past week has been really hard. I mean first we think we had Kira, then Kira returns. Now you keep telling me Misa might be in danger; it kills me every time. I trust your deductions, which makes it even worse. I just…" Light balled his fists to his side and gritted his teeth "I just want to have this thing over with once and for all; I want Kira stopped so badly I can taste it. This isn't just about catching a murderer for me; this is personal now. We need to capture him and his accomplices and make them pay to the fullest."

L gave him one of those faux-sympathetic looks; eyebrows raised and mouth in a pinched frown.

"I understand," L said. "Which is why I'm concerned about you."

Light's eyes grew wide and he let his hands fall to the side.

"You are a most able investigator and I too trust your deductions," L said. "You are a competent person and I know you understand the gravity of the situation. Though emotions can overwhelm reason."

L rubbed his nose to emphasize the point. Light smiled sheepishly.

"You're afraid I might try something that could compromise the investigation," Light said. "Something like taking matters into my own hands to protect Misa."

"Light-kun you do understand why I am isolating her from the Taskforce," L said.

"Of course I do," Light said. "Yes it hurts, but it's absolutely necessary under the circumstances. And I know you're concerned I might try to contact her or even go see her."

"Yes," L said. "My concerns are rather obvious, though they need to be emphasized. As I said, I know you are a competent person and you understand the gravity of the situation; but as I also said, emotions can overwhelm. Light-kun, I am going to keep a closer eye on you and I'm going to ask the others to do the same."

"It's completely understandable and I have no problem with it," Light said. "To be honest, I like knowing that someone's watching out for me."

"If I think that you are getting too overwhelmed, I will make you take a time-out from the investigation."

In other words "I can limit your access with the snap of a finger." This was a little further than the usual "I'm keeping an eye on you" routine.

"That's a reasonable plan," Light said. "Though on the other hand, I know this isn't easy on you as well."

L sighed and nodded.

"Yes, it has been rather difficult," L said. "It seems we have come to know each other rather well."

"You're my friend, Ryuzaki," Light said. "We've been through so much together and I like to watch out for my friends. So if I start to see you getting a little overwhelmed, I will say something."

"I would appreciate that," L said. "Thank you for this talk."

L walked toward the door. Light stared daggers into his back.

* * *

**November 11, 2004**

**Tokyo**

**9:31 a.m.**

Misa thought the electronic beeps were part of a dream. She suddenly woke up and reached for the night table, knocking over a few tubes of lipstick before feeling her phone. She picked up the phone and looked, seeing that she received one new message.

Misa leaned her head against the bed frame and pressed a few buttons, trying to wake up enough so she could understand the message. It was an unlisted number, but that really didn't mean anything. Maybe it was from Light; the thought made her sit up a little more.

She pressed a few buttons and accessed the text.

_Misa,_

_Got your message. I know it's hard but please be patient. You will get another thing tomorrow. Trust me this will all make sense soon._

_3_

Misa fell back into bed with a flail and a squeal.

Author's Note: This is more of a transition chapter, but some good stuff will be happening very soon.


	8. The minor devil you know

**Best Laid Plans**

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters are the property of Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata, and Viz Media. I don't own them; I just examine all their possibilities.

This story contains details and background stories I have given to individual characters. As a result, any character details that differ from canon are the result of my background stories and not a lack of knowledge about canon. Any comments correcting me or debating with me on this will be deleted without reply.

**Chapter 7: The (minor) devil you know**

**November 12, 2004**

**Tokyo**

**3:04 p.m.**

Ryuzaki had proven useful for something after all.

Misa reached into the front pocket of her purse for her keys, brushing a finger against the business card of Hisayo Hayashi, the president of Hayashi Models herself. She was excited, bubbly even, to take Misa on as a client personally. She had so many ideas for where to take her career and Misa couldn't help but be excited with her.

She practically skipped down the hall on the way to her apartment, cradling her portfolio and a folder with a few formal papers. Her appointment book already contained a big magazine photoshoot in the Izu Islands and an audition for a small role on a comedy show.

The Goddess of the New World would be on TV. She liked the sound of that.

Misa reached for her keys and stopped at her door, putting the key in the lock. If this day was going to be right, there had better have been another envelope under her door. She slowly opened the door and revealed a manilla business envelope right by the doorstep. On the front was simply written "Misa" with a heart.

Misa closed the door and scooped the envelope off the floor, seeing Ryuk coming through the wall in the corner of her eye.

"Well, well, well, I guess Light did come through for you," Ryuk said.

Misa hugged the envelope, feeling a stiff piece of paper inside almost like a photo. She immediately pulled away and moved over to the couch. Light gave her something besides a DVD this time; hopefully something she could hold onto and study for a while without it melting.

She dropped her bag and portfolio on the floor and sat down on the couch, fingernail going under the corner of one sealed flap and ripping it open. The envelope was tough, though she noticed her hands were shaking. She took a moment to breathe and went back to the task a little calmer until the top of the envelope was open. She reached in and felt a glossy photo. Her finger tips carefully gripped the photo and slowly slid it out of the envelope.

Instantly, she saw the face of the father in Canada who was beaten to death; eyes open and his forehead and cheeks dripping with blood. Misa gasped and put down the envelope for a second. She looked at it again, but realized his eyes were open normally and not gaping open like a corpse. He was almost smiling, or rather sneering. Dead bodies don't do that.

Misa slowly pulled the photo entirely out of the envelope, seeing a black letter board over his chest; the telltale indicator of a police mugshot.

Her mouth gaped open

"He was a criminal?" she practically yelled.

This guy she felt so sorry for and had nightmares about was a criminal? She stared at the photo, her face beating with heat.

"Well whaddaya know about that," Ryuk said with a hint of a snicker. "Light would send you stuff on a criminal."

There had to have been a decent explanation for this. She turned the photo over and saw a small piece of paper taped on the back with typed writing.

"Check your email," the note read. "Burn this note after reading."

So Light did have something else in mind. She hopped up from the couch and went over to the bed, snatching up her laptop and sitting back on the couch. Misa had 11 email addresses she used for various purposes. Light didn't specify which one, but he probably wouldn't have sent it to her work address or her address for shopping and online stuff.

She checked one address for normal correspondence email, looking in the inbox and seeing one blank sender line. The subject "Guess what happened today" with an attachment. Usually she ignored emails like this; they could have had a virus on them, but this one seemed really well-timed. She clicked on the email, immediately greeted with the same photo she got in the envelope. This was indeed the message from Light. There was no introduction message, nor was there any message telling her the email would delete itself but she couldn't be too careful. Three PDF documents were attached, one listed on top of the other.

Misa clicked on that one first, opening what looked like a scanned document, all of it written in English, though she recognized the smaller version of the same mugshot. Her cursor lingered over one section and showed a black box with a Japanese translation.

The letterhead read: "Royal Canadian Mounted Police — Leduc Detachment: Criminal Record Sheet." Her stomach dropped.

She almost immediately noticed all of his last name but the first initial had been clipped out, only leaving a gray box. His first name was spelled "Emil" and his middle name was "Alain," which sounded really French. She took another look at the mugshot, only now noticing the same gray box on the letter board. She did see the date of the arrest: 04/12/86.

Misa looked further down, seeing the same date listed on the top of the box for his criminal history: drunk and disorderly conduct, simple assault, disobeying a police officer. It looked like he got drunk and was arrested for fighting, really stupid but she kept reading.

The list continued: a few more simple assaults, one assault with a deadly weapon, one resisting arrest. All of these were listed for the mid 1980's, but the list continued to the 1970's: breaking and entering, theft, destruction of property, possession of a controlled substance, vandalism. This guy had a long record; a repeated troublemaker. How many guys like this had she heard of once and written their name down?

Misa suddenly closed the box and clicked on the next PDF file. Another scanned document came up in English and the cursor again brought up a Japanese translation. She immediately recognized the same letterhead from the previous document, but this one was a straight narrative.

_L—/Amos: Memo 6/20/86_

She almost didn't want to read further, it was clear this document was related to the murder investigation. She wanted to skim it, but there was probably information in here Light wanted her to know about.

_A thorough search was done of separate shed structure on the property at 236 Holman Court at the Oak Ridge Mobile Home Park, the L— residence on 6/19…Two metal toolboxes were found on one of the lower shelves on the left hand side of the structure near the back end, one was opened and seen to contain seven sandwich bags filled a quarter way with a substance that was easily identified as dried marijuana leaves….The second box contained five white, printed sheets that appeared to be sheets of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)…Further laboratory testing will be needed to confirm…Earlier search of the residence found a strongbox in the top shelf of a closet in the main bedroom containing $256.45 in bills and coins and $195 in American bills…_

This really wasn't good.

_Early last year, Insp. Marlowe established case files on five individuals who reside or are connected with the Oak Ridge Park on suspicion of trafficking in drugs and illegal arms. A file was established on Mr. L— mostly containing notes on rumors in the area, though no probable cause was ever found to arrest and search…Mr. L— did have an extensive criminal record of mostly violations and misdemeanors…In January of 1972, he was convicted of Theft and Breaking and Entering stemming from a car break-in…He was given a one year sentence at Drumheller Institution and was let out six months early for good behavior…Since then he had only had a few offenses, mostly Drunk and Disorderly or Simple Assault…His record has been more active since November of 1985...Court records indicate he plead Guilty or No Contest to most charges and received mostly small fines or time served with overnight detention…The park has gained a reputation as a hotbed for activity by motorcycle gangs… Mr. L — was not himself affiliated with any gang, though his name has come up a few times in interviews with known gang members…Mr. L— was sometimes known by the nickname 'Rodent' and rumored to be a reliable supplier of small, or recreational doses of marijuana and LSD…_

Misa's dropped her head back on the couch cushion with a groan. She just couldn't read any more. She saw Ryuk out of the corner of her eye rooting through the fridge, though she saw one red eye sneak a peek in her direction, a chuckle sneaking out.

"I don't even want to hear about it!" she snapped.

An apple dropped to the floor.

"What, I didn't say anything," Ryuk said, bending down and picking the apple from the floor.

Misa rolled here eyes.

"And close the fridge door," she said.

Ryuk did as instructed and walked back to the table, though she could feel his eyes on her and it irritated her. Or maybe she was feeling overly defensive now; she had a right to be. Misa wanted to curse out Light again, but she just didn't have the energy.

No, this couldn't be all there was. There had to be a point to this besides being made to feel sorry for a criminal; a drug dealer, a troublemaker, a thief probably killed by another criminal for doing criminal things…and leaving behind three little kids.

Maybe the kids were better off without such a lowlife father.

She felt awful the moment she realized what she was thinking…but she shouldn't have. He should have known better; you don't do things like that when you have kids. The kids should have been taken away and put in nicer homes…away from dad…what kind of dad was he anyway? What did it matter! He was probably abusive, he was probably a drunk who beat his kids. Isn't that what criminals did to their kids?

The words played back in her head; what the rough guy on the news program said.

"He was like the greatest dad…two of the sweetest people you could ever meet."

It was weird hearing a tough guy's voice crack like that.

"…now there's three little kids don't have a dad because of this…"

Misa pried her head back up and made herself read the rest of the document. Light had to have had a purpose in sending her this crap. The rest was the same report; details on how this guy was a lowlife, details on how this might have gotten him killed but no one knows anything yet.

Misa closed out of the document. The third one remained; maybe this would finally explain why Light had been sending her this garbage. She clicked on it, seeing the same letterhead but only one page and brief writing.

_To: All departments involved in the L—/Amos case_

_From: Insp. Gus Harrison_

_I understand that Emil L— was known to most of you and most are familiar with the rumors of his activities, some of which have apparently been confirmed. Such experience will lead one to form certain opinions and that is normal. However, I will ask that you please be careful where you voice such opinions from here on out._

_At the initial call I overheard some comments being made at the scene and within a few feet of the squad car where Mr. L—'s three young children were located. I have spoken to the constables involved in this and I want to make sure this incident isn't going to repeat itself._

_There are children involved in this and those children will be interviewed in the station and likely in the courtroom. I've spent some time with all three of them; they're scared, they're in shock, they loved their dad, and at least one of them saw things no kid should ever see. What is a case to you shattered their worlds. I want you to keep this in mind before you voice any opinions._

_-Harrison_

Misa closed the PDF and then clocked out of the email. She knew she should go back in and take notes; there was a possibility the email might delete itself. Instead she shoved the laptop onto the couch and got up. Misa didn't look over at Ryuk, but already knew he was staring at her.

A nice hot bath sounded pretty good right now.

* * *

**4:52 p.m.**

The water was starting to get cold and the bubbles had turned to a milky skin over the surface. Misa brought herself to more of a sit, the splashing of water echoing behind the curtain was the only sound in the room. The quiet felt nice, anything besides hearing her own whimpers and sobs echoing back at her was a preferable sound.

How long had she been in there? She really didn't care, nor was she in a hurry to get up. Her head ached, her eyes stung, she wasn't able to think. That was slowly changing. The colder the water got, the more her numbness started to break, and the more she realized she would have to face what she just read.

No, she was ready to face it, she wanted to face it, but she had no idea where to start.

The thought produced a few more sobs, her eyes stung again with some leftover tears. She felt like she had been crying for over a year, no she hadn't been crying. She stopped crying months ago, but here she was again. It felt horrible, it hurt, it made her feel helpless again. A few more sobs pushed out the thought and she fell silent.

"Why, Light!" she tried to yell, but it only came out in a whimper. "You were supposed to help me, not bring stuff up like this! Why are you doing this?"

There had to have been a reasonable explanation for this. Maybe he was testing her, telling her to show no mercy to criminals. No matter how many kids they have, no matter how nice they might be, criminals need to die, that is the will of Kira. Maybe he wanted to see if she was truly strong enough to be his consort. But what would he do if he found her lacking: she knew the answer to that question, but the police were watching that copy of the Death Note.

If he wanted to write her name down, would he be able? But she had the Shinigami Eyes. Maybe he would make her pass along the notebook to someone else if she wasn't suitable as goddess. Who else would he send the notebook to? Kiyomi? That thought made her want to write Miss Slutty To-Oh's name down immediately, but that wouldn't be a good idea. Maybe he would send it to another supporter, but he knew Misa was more devoted than any of them. Misa had the Eyes now, he needed her to kill L sooner rather than later.

Then again how bad of a criminal had this Emil L. guy been? There was nothing in there about him killing or raping anyone. He sold drugs…but pot and acid were party drugs. College kids used these, photographers used these. Most models and executives snorted coke at parties; her former manager used to snort coke in the ladies room on a regular basis. Pot and acid were beneath them

Kira didn't like drugs, Light would want drug dealers punished. But then this guy only sold drugs to other bad people, though maybe those drugs were sold to kids. She remembered she didn't hear of too many small-time drug dealers being punished. Maybe Kira was after big time drug traffickers and people who sold heroin and cocaine. In Japan, you could go to prison for many years for even having a small amount of pot on you. Maybe in Canada it was different; maybe it was not as serious a crime, but maybe Light wanted it to be a crime punishable by death everywhere.

Misa understood if Kira wanted to get rid of the really bad criminals first and then go after the small ones, but there were still a lot of murderers and the like out there.

Misa's eyes went wide with a sudden realization. Kira really hadn't killed that many minor criminals, but she was writing down the name of anyone even mentioned to commit a crime. Maybe that was the message; Light only wanted her to kill really bad criminals and he was not happy she was killing so many minor ones.

Minor criminals weren't really hurting that many people and they could be reformed; they could be reformed and maybe go back to their children. Bad criminals should get the death penalty; they would lose their kids anyway if they were executed. Or maybe minor criminals would stop doing what they were doing if they saw bad criminals getting killed. Light could have killed a few minor criminals before to test its effectiveness in deterring crime, or he could have done it because L was on his tail and he wanted to throw off suspicion.

Or maybe he was testing her to see how strong she was, maybe he was seeing if she could still kill criminals even if she knew they left kids behind…even if one of them "saw things no kid should see." She pushed that thought out of her head with a grunt; she was sick of crying.

Misa gave a frustrated whine and covered her face with her hands. What could she do?

She would only write the names of those who had committed serious crimes for a few days. If that wasn't what Light wanted, he would send her another message. That was it, that was the answer!

Misa pulled her hands away and nodded, a smile sneaking out. She knew what she needed to do.

* * *

**November 14, 2004**

**Tokyo**

**2:27 a.m.**

There was another envelope under the door. Misa stopped and stared at it for a second.

It had been two days since the last one. Since then she had only been writing down the names of serious criminals and now Light was sending her another message. Maybe he wasn't happy with her, or maybe he was sending a naked photo of himself as a reward. She giggled at the thought, but that still didn't seem like Light.

Misa reached down and picked up the envelope, feeling another photo inside…no a few photos. Maybe these were criminals he wanted her to punish in particular.

She sat back down on the couch and carefully opened the envelope, reaching her fingertips in and feeling photos inside. She then slowly pulled them out, immediately greeted with the sight of her mother's face coated in blood.

Misa wanted to scream, but she took the photos out without a sound and pried the second one from the back. It was her dad; head bashed in, blood everywhere. She laid out both photos on the coffee table, feeling like she was crying but the tears never came out.

Her parents eyes were now open, both held black placards at their chests.

"You needed to know the truth Misa," Light's voice suddenly said. "Mom and dad were criminals. They sold drugs. They both deserved to die."

Blood poured from the photos and ran like a river across the floor in front of her. She was now standing in her parents' living room; mom and dad's bodies piled on top of each other.

"They needed to die. The world will be a better place without them."

She was standing over them, a lead pipe clutched in her hands dripping blood. Blood ran up to her ankles. She looked again; mom and dad weren't there; instead she saw the body of a man with a long, black braid and a scraggly goatee. Emil L.; skull caved in, floating on a river of blood.

"You killed them Misa. Show no mercy, they were criminals, their children are better off without them."

She saw a dark figure out the corner of her eye; a small child peeking out from the kitchen. She couldn't tell if it was a boy or girl, but it was staring at the body and crying.

"Daddy! Daddy!"

Misa's eyes shot open, seeing her apartment from the glow of her red lava lamp. Ryuk was lying on the ceiling, sleeping. She shifted, realizing she was lying down in her bed.

Just a stupid dream, she thought to herself; blinking her eyes hard to stop the tears from coming.

* * *

**November 16, 2004**

**Tokyo**

**9:15 a.m.**

"In the past four days, there has been a noticeable shift in the killings," Aizawa said. "As Ryuzaki said before, there were around 11 killings a day, now that number seems to have dropped."

L dipped a small section of his plain cake doughnut in his coffee, watching the doughnut darken and crumble.

"Go on," he said, not looking up.

"On the 13th, five people were reported dead from mysterious heart attacks. That number was eight on the 14th and six were just reported for the 15th," Aizawa continued.

"And their criminal histories?" L said, picking up the doughnut and lightly licking dripping coffee from it before licking off the crumbling cake.

"That seems to have changed as well," Aizawa said. "All of them were suspected or convicted for capital offenses or major felonies; eight for murder, three for murder and sexual assault, five for sexual assault, one for heroin trafficking, and one for trafficking sex slaves."

L bit off the rest of the sagging section of doughnut. The eyes of the rest of the Taskforce were locked on him in an uncomfortable silence.

"The strategy appears to have changed for the time being," L said between mouthfuls. "The Fourth Kira is mixing up his routine, either by his own choosing or on the instruction of Kira. He is trying to throw us off, or at least make us think we need to look in other directions. It is a clear ploy; Kira knows better than to think we will immediately fall for this, but I believe this is leading to something. Kira might instruct or have instructed the Fourth Kira to change patterns. These patterns may be leading to something, but we need to keep our eyes on the matter at hand."

L picked up another doughnut from the plate on the desk and looked through the hole at Aizawa, seeing him look at him uncomfortably for a moment.

"Do you think it's possible that Kira chose another person to write down the names?" Light said, leaning back in his desk chair.

"It is a potential factor we need to be aware of, but it's too soon to tell," L said, taking a quick bite from that doughnut and putting it back in the box. "For the time being we need to conclude that it is unlikely. We certainly need to keep our eyes on this development, but not get too caught up in it."

The rest of the Taskforce nodded, including Light. Light's attention went back on the computer, hiding a small bit of aggravation.

Misa changed her killing pattern. There were a number of reasons why she did this and all related to how he had not contacted her in over a week. She was getting bored and wanted to spice up the routine, she thought there should be variation to throw the Taskforce off. The worst case scenario was she was going to kill fewer and fewer criminals until she killed no one just to spite Light for his lack of communication. Misa was absolutely loyal, but in some ways she was unpredictable.

No, the worst case scenario was that Misa had been arrested and L was having someone else write names down to throw off the case; changing the pattern to lead the case to any direction he wanted. Maybe this was what this change reflected. Light knew he had to get in touch with Misa soon, but maybe that's what L wanted. Maybe L set this whole scenario up to see if he would try something; change the pattern so drastically that Light would suspect something off and then wait for him to make a move.

Light had to do something; he had to make some contact with Misa or else see where she was being kept. How could he do this and not set off any of Ryuzaki's traps? He had to get Rem to kill L once and for all. He had to communicate with Rem that Misa was in danger. Changing the conversation to Misa right now would be a bad move, it would make him look like he was moving to the trap.

He had to think this one out and come up with a plan soon.

* * *

**November 16, 2004**

**Izu Oshima, Japan**

**1:10 p.m.**

Misa's bag vibrated in the black sand. She took another sip from her soda and leaned over from her chair, looking up to see the crew setting up the lights again. Lunch time was almost over and shooting would begin again soon.

She reached into her bag, keeping her sweatshirt over her shoulders. It was a little chilly out, but she was used to doing bikini shoots in cold weather; such was the nature of the business. She pulled out her cell phone; a new message from an unknown number. She gasped and smiled.

Misa opened the text:

_You have done well, Misa. Stay on your present course. _

_Love always 3_

She kissed her phone and giggled, feeling warm inside.


	9. Well intended wakeup call

**Best Laid Plans**

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters are the property of Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata, and Viz Media. I don't own them; I just examine all their possibilities.

**Chapter 8: Well intended wake-up call**

**November 21, 2004**

**Tokyo**

**8:32 a.m.**

"On November 16, three deaths were reported for that day. On the 17th, five people were reported. On November 18, that number was four. On November 19 that number was only two, and four people were reported on November 20," Matsuda said, trying to sound as concise and official as possible. This was almost a step up for him.

Various sighs and nervous shifting went around the room. Aizawa looked a bit perplexed. The Chief, however, got a small smile. Mogi just kept his focus on Matsuda. Ryuzaki just kept his focus on his tea. Light sat at his desk with his arms crossed, looking down at the keyboard.

"All of the victims were criminals, and really bad criminals at that…or rather the crimes they were accused of were pretty heinous," Matsuda continued. "Six were on death row for multiple murder, two were in prison for rape, two were suspects in an armed robbery that killed three people, one was accused of molesting children in a day care, three were well known as high-ranking Yakuza, two were accused of selling heroin around a school, and two were gang members killed a rival's mother."

Ryuzaki continued to gaze into his tea, not saying a word. An uncomfortable silence followed.

"Oh, and all of them were in Japan," Matsuda said. "Most in Tokyo but a few in and around Kobe, Kyoto, and Nagano.

Eyes turned again to Ryuzaki, though Light just kept looking at his desk. L picked an Oreo off his plate and nibbled delicately around the side. The silence continued, though Light drummed his fingers on the desk.

"So what are everyone's theories on this," L said between nibbles.

The question drew some more confused expressions.

"All I know is there have been fewer and fewer killings," Soichiro said. "That in itself has put my mind at ease, though that is no reason to rest. There is a greater pattern here."

"I had a thought," Matsuda said raising his hand. "Maybe the Fourth Kira is a professional. Not like a professional killer obviously, but, you know, like a salaryman or someone who works in an office. Maybe he can do the most killings on his vacation, but then when he's back to work he can't kill that many people. Maybe he's married and has children, so he needs to keep it even more a secret."

"Matsuda does bring up a good point," Aizawa said. Matsuda managed to squeak out "Really?" as Aizawa continued. "This is a rather obvious drop off in the killings. It wouldn't be far-fetched to guess we might be dealing with someone who caters his killing schedule to his job."

"Though as we learned from Ryuzaki's earlier theory that Kira was a student, Kira changed his patterns to spite us," Soichiro said. "Unless he is using this to throw us off again, or look in the wrong direction."

"Hence why it's a dangerous theory and if we follow it we'll be playing right into Kira's hand," Ryuzaki said, taking a sip from his cup.

Light's harsh sigh drew everyone's attention.

"The sudden change in killings is meant to lead us off course," L said, turning his gaze directly to Light. "Look for some kind of pattern, which Kira can and will use as a distraction. Low numbers now will mean high numbers later. It is likely he might even set up a few decoys who might look like the perfect candidate, whether he writes their names down to control them or sets them up the old fashioned way. Though I am curious to see if there is some kind of mathematical reasoning behind these numbers."

"So why did you ask for our theories in the first place," Light snapped. "You obviously wanted to just go with your own theories, why bother asking us?"

L rolled his eyes and added another sugar cube to his tea.

"Simply assessing the common mindset and looking for some general ideas," L said. "Do you have anything to contribute?"

"And how do I know I wouldn't get shot down like you just did with everyone else," Light said.

"Light all points are valid," Soichiro said.

"And Ryuzaki was just disagreeing with all of them, right," Aizawa piped in, voice dripping with sarcasm.

L just stirred his tea, looking down at the swirling clouds of cream and sugar and not at everyone else.

"Ryuzaki just had some really interesting points, and I am curious about the calculation one," Matsuda said with a nervous chuckle. "Too bad I wasn't that good in math class, but I would be interested in hearing what calculations you can use."

"Yeah, Ryuzaki, figure out your calculations while everyone else does your grunt work," Light said.

Soichiro slid up from the couch and walked over to Light, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Light if something is bothering you, it would be more productive to speak on it directly," Soichiro said to his son.

"Yes Light-kun, you have been rather quiet for the past few days, is there anything you care to share," L said in an even tone.

"I'm getting a little tired of spinning my wheels, that's all," Light said. "More people die while Ryuzaki keeps us cooped up here and listening to himself think."

"Listen Light, all of us are frustrated; it's only understandable," Soichiro said. "Yes, we thought everything was finished before, but now we know we are even closer to Kira. Is it Misa? Are you worried about her?"

Light looked over at L, who stared forward seemingly trying to avoid eye contact.

"Of course I'm worried about her," Light said, "I'm very worried about her, but that's not the point. Ryuzaki just keeps twisting his theories, shoots all of us down, and people are still dying. But then Ryuzaki probably sees this as just a game."

"Yes, Light, this is all one big game," L said. "Kira is playing this game with us and the game needs to be played with him. This isn't a new concept, you've known this since you've been with us."

"He's right, but I understand your frustration," Soichiro said. "Just remember Ryuzaki is only working to find the best possible solution and he will need all of our input. If a little grunt work is needed to finally catch Kira, I will gladly do it."

"And all of us end up slaving away for Ryuzaki's theories," Light said, sitting up in his chair and directly glaring at L. "That would be all well and good if Ryuzaki's theories were doing something, but so far we've just hit a lot of dead ends and I'm getting sick of it."

L put his cookie down and picked up another one, eyes turning to the side to look at Light for a moment before getting back to what he was doing.

"No, I can't blame you at all," L said.

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean," Light said. "No, I shouldn't bother. You can never say anything plainly. You have to spin your little web while we get caught in it. We're just test subjects to you; all of us, least of all Mogi and Matsuda who you've pretty much imprisoned. How about Misa? How has she played into all of this."

Light wanted nothing more than to see Rem's reaction to this, but he had to keep his focus.

"Ah, so it is all about Misa," L said, giving Light a sideways glare.

"If you were actually listening to me earlier Misa is just a small part of this, but while we're on the subject what are your plans with Misa," Light said. "I'd bet money that you're not just leaving her alone in her apartment. He probably has a hundred surveillance cameras all over her. How do we know you haven't just locked her up out of spite?"

It was a roughshod move, but it could be effective if played right. Light knew he had only one shot to get this right. He knew he was sounding like a raving lunatic right now, but if it put even an ounce of doubt on L that was all he needed. Ideally, Rem would listen to this and get some idea Misa was in danger. She might not kill L right away, but it would put her eye back on him. Even if this slipped by Rem's notice, the suggestion could put the rest of the Taskforce even more on edge.

Light subtly looked at the other Taskforce members and saw all eyes up front. Rem was too far off to the side, Light could only hope she was going off somewhere to write L's name down.

"And if you've actually been listening to me all along, I have told you any contact with Misa right now is dangerous," L said, tone tensing. "She is bait for Kira's trap. Even if I saw any reason to detain her, which I don't, I would not do so anyway unless we were closer to Kira. If the Fourth Kira, or Kira, or even Kira's Shinigami is watching her, going even near her would be plain stupid whether to detain her or set up surveillance cameras."

"Yes, yes, you keep saying that, but at what point were any of us supposed to start trusting you," Light said.

L suddenly looked up, putting a fingernail between his teeth in a silence that spread through the room. Light took another look around, seeing everyone still rapt in attention to L…including Rem coming into view in the corner. Her mouth was slightly open and she gazed intently at L.

Come on Rem, just get it over with. By know you've figured keeping this man alive puts Misa in danger.

L's head dropped down and he let out a hard sigh. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone, pressing several buttons.

"I didn't want to do this, but if it's the only way I'm going to keep the peace right now I have no choice," L said.

"Wh-what are you doing, Ryuzaki," Matsuda asked.

L entered another combination of numbers and pressed one last key. He pushed his chair around to face Light directly.

"I'm going to do this once and once only," L said to Light. "Contacting Misa right now is dangerous in the extreme, however if a conversation is kept short and carefully worded the hazard level drops considerably. The only one I trust to carry out such a conversation is you, Light-kun."

Light's eyes widened.

"What?" Light squeaked out.

L extended his hand and opened it to show his phone.

"That number is untraceable and there are no voice filters programmed at the time being," L said. "I also programmed it so all conversations will be aired over the audio system in this room, also after the call is connected it will disconnect exactly 75 seconds later. Keep the conversation mundane. Act as thought you have just been busy and have not had a chance to call her. Say nothing at all directly about the Taskforce, where we are, who is here, how many people are here, any information about the investigation whatsoever. Say what you need to say and tell her you are busy and can't stay on the phone long. If the conversation steers into forbidden territory, I will tell you to cut it off. If anything goes directly over that line, one push of a button and I close the connection."

L's finger hovered over one key on his keyboard to emphasize the point.

"Why are you doing this," Light said.

"Like I said, to keep the peace," L replied. "Now get it out of your system."

Light was slightly taken aback by this move. He had a feeling Ryuzaki might try this, but he dismissed it earlier. If Misa was captured, L would know any strain in her voice or change in her usual tone would alert the Taskforce something was going on. He could have had Wedy or some other crony on the other end behind a voice filter to sound like Misa, but any change in her speech patterns would also raise suspicion. Light made the conclusion that L would never allow this if Misa was imprisoned, nor would he volunteer the opportunity and open himself up for accusations that he staged the call.

Light reached over and took the phone from Ryuzaki's hand. This probably wasn't staged, but nothing with Ryuzaki was ever certain. Light opened the phone and dialed Misa's cell number.

He had to play this cool. He needed to communicate somehow to Misa not to say anything about any part of their plans, but L probably wanted this to happen. Then again if Misa started flapping her lips, Ryuzaki would know exactly what happened and then Rem would have no choice but kill him. Ideally she would be able to write everyone's name down before dying, creating enough of a distraction so Light could start writing a few names down on the scrap in his watch. The Taskforce's notebook — Light's notebook — was locked away behind access codes held one-by-one by all of them.

No it was a fantasy scenario. Rem would probably die after writing one name down. Then again L probably had a feed directly to the police and Light could eventually be caught. If Misa did start talking about anything sensitive, it would be a disaster. He would just have to steer the conversation, all she wanted was to hear his voice anyway.

He held the phone to his ear, hearing the dial tone in stereo over the phone and over the speakers. This might get distracting, but Light reminded himself to keep the conversation forward and pay attention to her speaking style and tone of voice.

The tone stopped and a sudden silence and static indicated someone picked up.

"Hello?" Misa's voice said, chipper but slightly groggy. It was early in the morning and she was probably sleeping later.

"Hello Misa," Light said.

"Light!" she screeched. "Oh, I missed you, I missed you! I was so worried!"

"I'm so sorry Misa, I let myself get too busy," Light said, looking over at Ryuzaki and seeing him staring at him; finger poised over the button. "This still can't be a long call, I need to be somewhere shortly. I just wanted to hear your voice again."

"Ooh you're so romantic," Misa said. "Just hearing your voice just made my whole day, no my whole week, how about month. I love you so much, Light! Oh and that new modeling agency is working out so well. I have so many jobs!"

So L actually did put her in contact with a new modeling agency.

"I'm so happy to hear that, sweetheart," Light said. "I have such hopes for you. But Misa I'm sorry I need to go now. I promise you'll hear from me again soon."

"Oh that would be wonderful, and I'll tell you about my new red nightie too, the one with the black lace," Misa said.

"Can't wait to hear about it," Light said, suddenly tensing and looking around the room. "I love you too Misa, talk to you soon."

Light pressed the red button and lowered the phone. That certainly sounded like Misa and it sounded like Misa was happy and comfortable wherever she was. If she was detained she would sound a lot tenser. It could have been a stand-in; L used professionals who would study Misa intently. It would have been a perfect performance, or maybe that actually was Misa. That was the most likely explanation, though he couldn't be too careful.

The fact she didn't mention anything about the notebook was troubling at first, but explained quickly: Misa understood the situation without him having to say anything. Misa probably suspected that any phone calls could be monitored. She really was a bright girl.

Light handed the phone back to Ryuzaki, who took it without taking his eyes off him.

"Satisfied?" L said.

Light slowly nodded. He could still call L out for having a stand-in or staging the call, but it was fuel for later. If he continued on his course, he would only exhaust his resources and get himself blocked from the investigation. It was best to play nice for now and set his course soon.

"I can't thank you enough," Light said with a relieved sigh. "I'm sorry for my outburst. I guess I've been more overwhelmed by this than I thought."

"Strong emotions will do that, it was only inevitable" L said.

L folded his phone and put it in his pocket.

"This isn't happening again," L said pointedly. "I allowed this once because I felt there was a little leeway given the situation. Kira might already know who you are, but a brief phone call giving away nothing would not raise too much attention. I trusted you to say the right things, Light-kun, and you did not disappoint. However, any repeat performances will not be so smooth and will not go unnoticed."

"I completely understand," Light said.

"I would hope so," L said.

He turned his chair around and went back to his computer. Light caught the message loud and clear: he had been warned.

"Though I don't think Matsuda's theory of the Fourth Kira being a professional is that far fetched," Light said, picking up a thread to move on.

* * *

**8:38 a.m.**

Misa felt the phone drop out of her hand and onto the bed. She thought to pick it back up, but didn't bother. Her skin tingled and her heart raced; if this were an anime she would be seeing hearts floating up to the ceiling.

He called, she heard his voice again. Misa let out a small squeal and put her hands to her face. He called just like he said he would, and he made good on his promise sooner than she thought.

Misa looked up, seeing Ryuk looking down at her curiously.

"That was Light, wasn't it," Ryuk said.

Misa excitedly nodded her head, though the action made her dizzy. She actually managed to fall asleep a few hours ago. The sudden phone call woke her with a scream, but the sudden jar was worth it for Light.

"He made good on his promise," she said.

She wanted to read the text again, but remembered it deleted itself as it always did but she had already memorized it. It came three days ago:

_Misa,_

_You might be getting a call from me soon, though it will have to be brief. Act like you're hearing me for the first time in a while. If I call, don't mention anything about any of our plans or messages until I specifically say it's safe. There will be more time for conversation soon._

_XOXO_

"What a thoughtful guy," Ryuk said.

"I know!" Misa said.

Thoughtful enough to call her during one of her lowest weeks. How could she stay mad at him now? The messages, after all, were just ways to toughen her up and start seeing some different perspectives. A few days ago she dared think he was doing to just to torment her. The sound of his voice made it all worthwhile.

Misa looked up and saw the light by her bed was still on, but she didn't feel like turning it off right now. She must have put it on before going to bed. The past few nights she didn't want to sleep in the dark, but at least she didn't put her radio on to distract her. She slept fine for at least a few hours without it. At least she didn't remember any nightmares.

Misa had her reminder of why she should continue. He called her despite how she had been more careful about who she killed. She couldn't just write their names down on a thought lately; she had to do extensive searches on how bad their crimes were or what their background was. Light just called her so he probably wasn't mad. This just gave her more fuel to do better than she had been.

Misa managed to pull herself up to a sit. She looked over at her mirror, immediately wanting to cover up her messy hair and red eyes. If she didn't get some sleep soon, she would end up looking like Ryuzaki; that was a terrifying thought.

A little more sleep would do wonders, but so would a nice walk. Misa slowly pried herself out of bed to throw some clothes on.


	10. Watching the neighbors and accomplices

**Best Laid Plans**

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters are the property of Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata, and Viz Media. I don't own them; I just examine all their possibilities.

This story contains details and background stories I have given to individual characters. As a result, any character details that differ from canon are the result of my background stories and not a lack of knowledge about canon. Any comments correcting me or debating with me on this will be deleted without reply.

**Chapter 9: Watching the neighbors and accomplices**

**November 21, 2004**

**Tokyo**

**11:17 a.m.**

A tone emitted from the phone and it shook on the vanity. Misa looked down at it briefly as she finished applying her red lipstick. It was probably from Light; a follow-up message after that morning's phone call was inevitable.

She picked the phone up, opened it, and opened the message.

_Misa you were perfect this morning, thank you. _

_Expect two more messages from me in the coming days, but these will be the last. I know this is hard for you, but this will all be clear soon. _

_XOXO_

She stared down at the phone for a moment. The tip of a long fingernail poking her scalp brought her gaze away with a small yelp.

"Oops, sorry," Ryuk said, the tugging sensation indicating he went back to braiding.

Misa felt the back of her head around the Shinigami's claws and felt the left braid was nice and even.

"It's okay," Misa said. "You're learning this really quickly."

"Henh thanks," Ryuk said, going back to what he was doing. "You know, this is kind of fun."

Another tone emitted from the phone and it wiggled a little in Misa's hand. She looked down at it, a tiny voice in her head not wanting to answer but a louder voice wanting to know what it was. She sighed softly and opened the message, feeling Ryuk looking over her shoulder.

_One more thing:_

_From now on do not make any sudden moves. If you make any changes or major actions, do them after a number of days unless I specifically tell you otherwise. Don't tell me when you will do them or do them in any pattern. I trust your judgment on this. _

_XOXO  
_

Misa stared at the message already feeling like she wanted to cry.

"But how many days does he want me to wait to do stuff," Misa whined, tossing the phone back on the vanity. "How many days will be enough?"

"He said he trusts your judgment on this," Ryuk said, braiding a few more strands before stopping. "I think he just wants you to wait as many days as you want before doing something. He doesn't want anything to look suspicious you know."

Misa took an elastic off the vanity and put it around the end of the braid before dropping her hand to her lap.

"Yeah that makes sense," Misa said. "He doesn't want me to do anything Ryuzaki can follow."

Misa put an hand on her head and sighed again.

"Now, now, Light said this will all be over soon," Ryuk said. "Look at it this way: you'll soon see what he's been cooking up and you'll get to be a part of it. You will be really helpful to him no matter what."

She dropped her head back against his bony chest, feeling elongated fingers awkwardly pat the top of her head.

"You know what Ryuk, you're a great guy," Misa said.

"Aww gee, you're gonna make me blush now," Ryuk said.

* * *

**November 22, 2004**

**Tokyo**

**6:53 a.m.**

She watched the white envelope slide under the door, but didn't hear any footsteps walking away. She almost wanted to get up and see if she could catch a look at the messenger's face; but Light wouldn't be too happy if he or she were to have some accident, then again he might not have cared.

Misa stayed in her reclined position, burying her face in the pillow pretending the message wasn't there. She hoped she would look up and it wouldn't be.

This is all for Light, she told herself. You need to do this for Light, he knows what he's doing.

Ryuk was sprawled out on the couch asleep. She was tempted to wake him so he could get the envelope, but this message was for her. She had to take care of it; Light wanted her to. This was all for Light.

Misa sat up in bed and looked at the clock: 6:43. Those numbers said 4:30 the last she looked at them; another sleepless night. This couldn't go on, she was meeting with her manager today, then a shoot tomorrow and a commercial the day after. Fortunately she knew how to apply make-up in such a way to cover the dark circles.

She thought about turning over and going back to sleep; the envelope could wait a few days. That's how long Light wanted her to wait after all, what difference would it make if she ignored the envelope for a week.

No, this was all for Light. Repeating the words gave her inspiration as did imagining his beautiful face and his smooth, sexy voice. She was the one with the problem, Light needed a strong consort.

Misa threw her legs over the side of the bed and stood up too fast, her head spun for a moment but she stomped over to the door and snatched the envelope from the floor. This one was a plain white envelope with "Misa" written on the back. No hearts, no colored pen, just black ink. A hard item, likely a DVD, was inside.

She gave a long sigh. The thought of having to sit through another one of these was almost unbearable but she needed to know the ending of this story; that was what Light wanted her to know wasn't it? Light wanted her to kill the murderer, or maybe he had another purpose to this she would know if she did what she was asked.

Misa ripped the envelope open, revealing a plain white disc; a heart was drawn on it in black ink. All she could do was sigh.

She scooped up her Choco-Cat notepad from beside bed and walked over to the TV. She thought about watching this on her computer, but didn't want to chance how her laptop would react to a melting disc. It was easier to replace the DVD player if it came to that. She walked past the couch and turned on the TV, turning it to Video.

She turned on the DVD player next, opening the drawer and taking a look back at Ryuk. He was still lightly snoring; hopefully he would stay that way. She really didn't need his commentary right now, or maybe it would end up being the best thing for her.

Misa put the DVD in the tray and shoved it into the player, the hand holding the remote starting to shake and sweat forming on the back of her neck. This was all for the greater good, just remember that.

Misa's aching legs came to a sit on the floor and she took the notepad in hand, feeling a rock in her stomach. She closed her eyes and drove the Play button down with her finger, slowly opening her eyes to be ready for the image. She had to concentrate; this was important information. Light wanted her to know this no matter what.

_I know this is hard on you, but this will all be clear soon._

The image on the screen was pitch black with the sound of clicking and rustling in the background; she liked this even less.

"June 21, 1986, Interview with Madeline Seely. The time is 9:05 a.m.," a male voice said. White letters in Japanese appeared on the screen corresponding with the words.

This would apparently be an audio-only feature; this development made her cringe a little.

"Mrs. Seely could you state your full name and address for the record please," the male voice continued.

"My name is Madeline Annette Seely, I live at 234 Holman Court in Leduc, Alberta," a female voice followed with corresponding translation.

"And for the record. Mrs. Seely has consented to be interviewed without presence of counsel."

"That is correct, just a nice little chat."

"Of course. Mrs. Seely how long have you lived at the Oak Ridge Park?"

"Since last October. Fred, my husband, and I moved here from Beaumont; closer to work for both of us. We read an ad for the park. It was a nice opportunity for our own place; the kids are grown, we wanted a place to ourselves."

"Are you familiar with Emil 'Low-lee-ay,'" the kanji still said "male victim."

"Yes he was my next door neighbor. We got along fine, every time I saw him he was a nice guy. I occasionally would watch kids if he had an errand to run or something, they're great kids I never minded."

Misa felt sick, but knew she needed to keep watching.

"So by and large a friendly relationship."

"Yeah I'd say so. Never had any spats with him. Occasionally he would have too many people over at his house, you could tell they'd be drinkin' and gettin' a little rowdy."

"How often would you say this occurred?"

"At least every other week I'd say, lately it's been, or I should say it was closer to a few times a week. Nothing too big, if the music or the game got a little too loud, you just needed to tell him and he's bring the volume right down."

"How was he around his kids, did you notice?"

"Papa bear, that's the first thing that comes to mind. Oh you could tell he loved those kids and those kids just thought he was the greatest. He'd be out there workin' on his bike and at least one of them would be lookin' over his shoulder. Very easy going, you could especially tell with the older boy, but he was Mr. Softie with his little girl and the younger lad."

Remember he sold drugs, he disobeyed police officers, he was a criminal: Misa repeated the words in her head over and over, but somehow they were holding less weight. They didn't know their dad was a criminal, they were better off…she needed to pay more attention to the recording.

He probably beat them, he probably molested them, that's what criminals did to their kids. It was impossible for them to love them and hug them and give them birthday parties and tuck them in with a story and take them on ski trips…

Focus, Misa, focus.

"Do you know if they were ever around when things got rowdy?"

"I never saw them outside when things got loud, but I was never in the house when they were partying. Maybe they were used to it, maybe he sent them to another neighbors, I don't know."

"Did you have any reason to suspect he might be doing anything illegal, like any involvement with drugs or guns? Maybe had some people over who were drinking underage?"

"I know nothing about that, Inspector, honest to goodness. In this neighborhood you learn when to reach out to your neighbors and when to keep your head inside. You just know when there are things goin' on you'd rather not get mixed up in, if you know what I mean."

"Did you ever fear for your safety while living in this neighborhood?"

"Yes and no. There have been a few times when you know someone's gettin' into a row. Fred and I have spent many nights with a hand close to the phone wonderin' if we needed to call you guys. Usually the stuff just blew over, but you got used to hearing it."

"Did you know if anyone in the neighborhood might have had a beef with Mr. 'Low-lee-ay,' a neighbor or someone who regularly came by?"

"No one in particular. Like I said it wasn't unusual to hear some sort of fighting when some drinking was involved. If any one in particular had a special grudge, I couldn't tell you. He seemed to have a lot of friends, whether one of them had it in for him I didn't know."

"Were you familiar at all with Ms. Amos?"

"Not personally. I remember Emil introduced me to her once. Seemed like a nice lady, very polite. I saw her over there occasionally, mostly hangin' out with his buddies a couple times they'd be neckin' by the door."

"Did you hear anything around the neighborhood about her?'

"No, nothing. I'm pretty sure she didn't live in the park. All I heard about her was when she visited next door."

"The night of the 17th, did you know that anything was going on at Mr. 'Low-lee-ay's' home? Did you hear anything, see anything?"

There was a pause for a moment.

"Oh God, no, I seriously can't recall anything, no kiddin'. Me and Fred turned in around 8. Though…now that you mention it I did hear some yelling outside. All I heard was a 'Fuck' or an 'Asshole.' I do think I heard a woman yelling. The rest was pretty garbled, in fact I think I fell asleep right after. Living her for a while, you get used to hearin' stuff like that to the point where you don't notice it unless it's in your face. Oh God, now that I think about it…I could say I could have intervened or called you guys. But I can tell you that would only have made it worse. I didn't hear any screaming or gunshots."

"It just seemed like background noise to you at this point."

"Yeah that pretty much sums it up."

"Now describe to me the events the morning of June 18, what lead you to find Mr. 'Low-lee-ay' and Ms. Amos?"

"Well I got up around quarter to 5, I had to be to work around 6:30. So I got up, showered, and sat by the window with my morning coffee and smoke. Fred was still asleep, I tried not to wake him. I looked out the window, had a clear view of Emil's trailer too. I think this was around 5, quarter after. I was looking out the window and I saw Emil's little boy Liam outside. I kept an eye on him for a while, seeing that he would out there alone. He was kind of shambling around the trailer, shufflin' his feet, lookin' all over the ground. It looked like he lost something.

"I kept an eye on him, making sure everything was okay. Then he turned a certain angle. There was blood all over the front of his dungarees; all over the knees, the shins. He had these little white sneakers on, soles just covered. That's when I got scared. I put my smoke out, threw on a shirt over my pajamas, and ran outside. I didn't know if he got hurt, maybe his dad wasn't around or it just happened. I went out to him and I said 'Are you hurt? Did something happen?' He kind of glanced at me, I could see his hands and the cuffs of his shirt were covered in blood and I knew something was very wrong."

Misa wanted to stop the DVD, she had to stop this; she couldn't take this any more. No, there was a reason for this; she stopped the DVD she would never know what Light was trying to tell her. She would let him down, she would be useless to him. No matter what, she had to continue.

"He turned around and started walkin' to the backyard, not saying a word. I followed him."

The neighbor paused and sighed hard.

"And that's when I saw it; two people sprawled out on the lawn covered in blood."

Hot, stinging tears poured from Misa's eyes. It sounded like the woman was fighting back sobs too, making Misa's eyes sting even more.

"One of them was Emil, I recognized the clothes and the hair. Same build. His forehead was…crushed. I hope I never have to see anything like that again, it was just horrible. I recognized Cheryl right off, at least by that curly, bleached hair. She was face down about a meter from him, skin all black and blue, shoulder all bent weird. Blood just soaked through the grass, like someone poured a bucket of paint all over the lawn but it was everywhere."

She paused again.

"I'm sorry, it's just…it's just hard to think about let alone repeat it."

"It's all right, take as much time as you need. Do you need a break?"

"No, no, it's okay," the woman said, taking a few hard breaths. "It was hard for me, but I don't even want to imagine what it was like for Liam. What is he, six, seven?"

"I believe he's six. Damn, damn shame. Any reason to believe he wasn't the first who found the bodies?"

"If he wasn't, whoever did must've taken off. Oh God, poor baby. He was just dazed; he didn't even look at them when I got there, he just stood off to the side. Then he…he said 'I checked for a pulse, can't find any.'"

Misa buried her mouth in her hand and sobbed. She had to keep paying attention, but it was futile at this point. Her eyes stayed on the screen to read the translation.

"I think those words are going to stay in my gut as long as I live. I…I just screamed, screamed bloody murder. I picked up Liam in my arms and ran back to my house. He put is arms around my shoulders, I could feel him shaking. He's a little thing too, skinny like his dad. He was just shaking like a leaf. I ran in the house and called 911. Fred Must've been awake. I screamed at him to go next door, make sure Sherry and Allen didn't leave the house and see their dad like that. I called 911 and told them what I found, I don't even remember what I said, I was in hysterics. I called and I kept Liam by my side. Kid didn't say anythin' else. He wasn't crying, wasn't talking, nothing. He just looked at the floor like he was in a daze.

"That's when I heard the sirens and went outside. The whole neighborhood was coming out at this point. Then I saw one of your constables go into the house." She gave a sob. "Can you tell me where the kids are now? Do they have any relatives to stay with?"

"Unfortunately, we haven't been able to locate any. We don't believe Emil or his late wife had any family in the area. The kids went with Family Services and I believe they've been placed with some families around here. We are still looking for any relatives who can take them."

"Oh God, that's just awful. I heard about their mum from a few people, sounded like such a nice lady. Oh God such a shame. You guys really need to get the bastard who did this; the son'va bitch deserves to get locked in a hole for the rest of his miserable life for doing this."

"Believe me, Mrs. Seely, we're looking. We are going to catch whoever did this, I can assure you."

The translation stopped and the screen turned to static.

"No!" Misa yelped, feeling ready to gag when the characteristic whine emitted from the DVD player.

She tried to get up, but didn't have the strength in her legs to do it. Misa felt a shifting off to the side and the whining stopped with the sound of the DVD tray popping out.

"Looks like it melted like the others did," Ryuk said from the side.

Misa had no idea he was awake, but then she didn't notice much else but the story unfolding. She stayed seated for a moment, eyes burning but she didn't want to cry. She was sick of crying; crying would do no good here, but then what would.

She came to her feet, ignoring the sudden dizziness, looking over at Ryuk and seeing the disc around one of his claws with the usual melt marks.

"Ryuk throw that away please," she said, tossing her notepad on the couch and walking away.

"Umm, are you okay Misa?" Ryuk said in an almost babying tone.

"I have a meeting with Hisayo this afternoon, I need to get ready," Misa said, voice determined but shaky.

She practically stomped toward her dresser, her back to the Shinigami. She wouldn't see his grin get wider or hear the breathy chuckle over the wooden thud and squeaking of opening drawers.

This show was getting even more entertaining.

* * *

**12:41 p.m.**

That plate of turnovers had been in front of Ryuzaki for the past hour, yet he hadn't touched any of them. He would lightly sip his tea, occasionally looking at the plate but he would look back at the computer screen. It was like a little kid pushing aside his plate of spinach.

Come to think of it, he was eating less and less in the past few days. He could usually nibble and chomp on his food all he wanted. Lately he would nibble at corners and leave the rest. Today he wasn't even making the effort.

"Have you been feeling okay, Ryuzaki," Light said quietly so no one else in the room would notice.

"Why do you ask," L said, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"I'll be honest I've been a little concerned about you lately," Light said. "You've barely been touching your food, plus you've been looking a little tired lately."

"I simply have not had much of an appetite as of late," L said. "And I'm sure this case has been exhausting for everyone."

"But the last thing you want to do is wear yourself down too much," Light said.

Playing the caring friend would only benefit him in the long run. L definitely didn't buy into it, but the Taskforce would. It would give Light more credence if he called L out on something, which unfortunately was one of his best strategies at the moment.

Light came to the conclusion that he didn't have Misa detained, though it was obvious something was in the works. The drop in killings was looking even more suspicious.

L made such a big deal about no one contacting Misa, but it was possible he himself contacted her. If this was the case, he almost de finitely contacted her as "Light" and was giving her instructions on who to kill; he could use these instructions to have her do something that would put more guilt on her. No, he was already trying to avoid implicating her, but he could have planned out these instructions to implicate Light.

Light knew he was L's prime target. He would want to put away Misa too, but Misa to him was more of a pawn; a direct path to accomplish his goals. She was easily expendable, a key to get to Light and then easily tossed away.

Her being detained wasn't the worst case scenario. The worst case scenario was he managed to steal her Death Note, have one of his cronies sneak in her apartment while she was on a modeling job and replace it with a fake. Maybe that was why he set her up with the modeling agency, he needed to get her out of the house to steal the notebook or set up cameras. He obviously wasn't there, but he probably called out operatives, Aiber and Wedy most likely, to go in with their faces concealed and do the switch.

If she was under surveillance they could write down the names she wrote in the fake book, or maybe they were instructed to write fewer and fewer; making it look like Misa was developing a guilty conscience. Someone could easily write Misa's name down, have her commit suicide after a certain number of days saying she couldn't take the guilt any more and say Light was ultimately responsible.

Light would be able to protest all he wanted and accuse L, but it was iffy if that would help. Odds were the Taskforce would see Misa as an unstable young woman throwing around accusations. If Light knew it, L knew this too and he wouldn't make any moves that could be easily blown apart.

It seemed unlike L though; L would want to win on evidence alone. Writing in the notebook would be cheating to him, but then desperation lead people to take extreme measures especially L. It seemed like he was hitting the wall, maybe he was willing to take such an extreme move if it meant finally having his victory.

The Death Note was a tempting tool for anyone. Someone as powerful as L might have been seduced by it's deadly simplicity; he could put away criminals faster, get rid of witnesses, maybe use it to control law enforcement officials he deemed worthy of sacrifice.

"If you want any of these, you're free to have some," L said.

Light broke from his train of thought and looked over to see L pushing his plate over.

"No, you need to eat something," Light said. "Besides I would feel bad if I took them with you in such a state."

Was this an act? Maybe L was trying to look more sympathetic, but would he put himself in a position to look weak? Maybe he really was ill, or maybe just depressed. Maybe this case was taking a toll on him, but Light knew better than to take L at his word.

"You are right," L said, taking back the plate. He broke a piece off one, letting some of the apple filling ooze out. "I do appreciate your concern."

"I'm just watching out for a friend," Light said.

L nibbled into the corner of his pastry, making a note of yet another pithy statement from Light. He looked at the clock on the bottom of his computer.

12:43, almost exactly six hours and he was still alive. His assumptions were correct; it was time for the next step.

L went on his computer and accessed a private window to Watari.


	11. Moment of partial truth

**Best Laid Plans**

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters are the property of Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata, and Viz Media. I don't own them; I just examine all their possibilities.

This story contains details and background stories I have given to individual characters. As a result, any character details that differ from canon are the result of my background stories and not a lack of knowledge about canon. Any comments correcting me or debating with me on this will be deleted without reply.

**Chapter 10: Moment of partial truth**

**November 23, 2004**

**Tokyo**

**6:04 a.m.**

A hot forehead usually felt a little better upon gently meeting a cold surface, though when that surface was the side of the toilet tank the sensation was a little less relaxing. Regardless, it was serving its purpose in a manner that was a bit more comfortable than its previous role.

Misa wanted to get up and swish with a whole bottle of mouthwash, but her throbbing skull kept her seated on the floor. Her flannel pajama bottoms were doing little to keep her legs warm against the linoleum, she would only be able to tolerate the cold for as long as she could stave off the dry heaves but it would only make matters worse. All she could smell was the nasty combination of wine and ramen that had been making a slow exodus from her stomach for the past half hour.

She was glad she remembered stumbling back to her apartment alone and passing out when she got in. The scrapes on her knees from tripping out of the cab confirmed her mental story and she did remember the circumstances behind her ending up this way even if her brain hurt. It involved a meet-and-greet with photographers, models, and ad reps, wining and dining, the usual bit. It wasn't exactly a mystery how she ended up a retching mess on the floor the next morning. The mere thought that she could have done something embarrassing to ruin her reputation made her curl tighter against the toilet.

This was her safe place; nice, quiet bathroom. Nothing existed beyond these walls, no one else cared about her. This was her world, her nice quiet place away from everything.

She had spent too many mornings like this after mom and dad died. A bottle of wine or a few shots of vodka or a few beers in whatever combination would make her forget anything for at least a few hours. The next morning the horror would return like a rain of glass shards; she could never drink anything away, it would come back with a raging vengeance.

She would always steel herself in a small corner in the bathroom of wherever she would wake up hoping she hadn't screwed up too badly though the nightmare would always find her. She was home, thankfully, and the only one in the apartment save for Ryuk; though she sent Ryuk out after she woke up. She just didn't want to be bothered at the time, a decision she sort of regretted.

Regardless, she was alone in a nice, safe place. This fortification was under siege if only by the plain manila envelope on the carpet by the front door.

Misa whimpered and curled her knees to her chest, hugging them tightly. Light was wasting no time before delivering what would probably be his last message. Somehow, she would be able to look at the message and know exactly what she needed to do; what Light wanted done.

She saw the envelope when she ran to the bathroom and it was still lying in its original place. It was larger than a regular mailing envelope yet about half the size of a memo envelope. Misa had only now thought of it let alone tried to guess what was inside, a thought that produced a slight gag.

She scolded herself for being such a little kid about this. All she had to do was open the damn envelope and look at what her Light sent. It was probably so stupidly obvious she would know what she immediately needed to do the second she saw it.

But what if that wasn't the case? What if she didn't understand it? What if the message flew right past her head and she never had any hope of figuring this out? What would Light think if nothing ever happened? He would be disappointed in her, he would be angry, he would think she failed him as a partner. Kira would think she failed him and dishonored her parents…but then wasn't it dishonorable enough to shove such a tragedy in her face?

No! Kira is god! Light is god! Whatever Light is doing is justified…like shoving this crap down her throat and expecting her to swallow it like ice cream when it felt like boiling acid? Did this all have a purpose? Yes it did!

This all had a purpose and that was final. One did not question Kira, but what if Kira was only human. Stop that! Kira is god! That's it, end of discussion! Those that challenged Kira deserved death. Those that failed Kira…

Misa put her head in her hands and whimpered again. Light wouldn't have given her this job if he knew she wouldn't be able to do it. If he were testing her, she would not fail.

Misa slowly pulled her head up with the realization: Light told her not to take any sudden actions, he told her to wait days before doing everything. He was doing this to give her time to figure out the puzzle. That had to be the answer; Misa had all the time she needed to solve this. If she solved it immediately, she would wait a few days before acting so as not to look suspicious. If she needed time to figure this out, Light was giving it to her.

She felt horrible for even doubting him.

Misa pushed some of her resolve into her legs and strained them to stand, hands clutching the toilet to steady her and brace her against the pounding ache in her head. Bare feet finally met the cold linoleum, only for knees to buckle with a passing dry heave. She swallowed hard and made herself walk forward, practically slamming open the door and facing that damn envelope like a knight facing a dragon.

She walked over to the envelope and reached down, getting enough strength to snatch it from the floor without falling over with the pain in her head. The contents were thin and light, but she did not want to even think about what they were until finally facing them. Misa then sat on her bed, a fingernail going to the corner of one opening and starting to rip. The fold of the envelope met with some resistance, but she tore through anything that got in her way. The envelope was finally open with the fold practically torn off, though she tore the front of the envelope open for good measure.

Misa immediately saw small stack of glossy photos, the first one a man in nothing but ripped shorts laying in a lawn chair with a book over his stomach, a cigarette in one hand and the other giving a thumbs-up to the camera. A large pair of sunglasses concealed his eyes, but she immediately recognized the scruffy beard and long, black hair.

She tore the envelope off and threw it to the floor, keeping the stack of photos in hand. Emil was hardly appealing in this photo; she first noticed the tattoo sleeves down his arms with images of dragons, vines, and skulls. Physically he was really thin, the hair on his chest concealed some of his protruding ribs but not all of them. Her face twisted into a somewhat disgusted look and she moved the photo to the back.

The next was also of Emil, this time in a beat-up leather jacket standing in front of a bunch of motorcycles. There was another man in the photo, a black man with a baseball cap and a handlebar mustache with a beer in his hand. She couldn't see a name on him either; a friend of Emil's who also died. She wondered if he died after Emil or before; what if this man died before Emil did? What if Emil had to mourn his loss. No, criminals only cared about themselves, that was impossible.

She moved the other photo, seeing another one just of Emil on his back looking up from under a car; t-shirt covered in grease with smudges on his smiling face. She moved to the other one. Emil was sitting in a chair at a table, an elderly woman with huge glasses in a pink sweatshirt hugging him from behind. He was reaching up to hug her back and leaning a face against her arm. There was no name on her either. His mother maybe?

Misa shoved the photo to the back of the pile trying to drive away the heat behind her eyes. She probably beat him, that's why he probably became a criminal. Or he broke her heart and he was better off dead anyway. Did mothers mourn criminal children? But then what if she died before…

Emil was actually in a black suit for the next photo, hair pulled back in a ponytail and clean shaven. Beside him was a woman in a dark blue dress, no name visible either. They clutched hands and stood together side by side with beaming smiles. Her black hair hung around her shoulders and she wore a lacy white headband. She was kind of plain looking, but pretty. Misa soon noticed the shape of her eyes and nose and her slightly tanned skin tone; she saw many models with these features. She was half-Japanese?

Misa took a closer look at the photo, seeing the rings on both their fingers and feeling a little more dizzy. This was Emil's late wife, the one who died in an accident a year before him; the mother of their three kids. Was this their wedding photo? Maybe she was also a criminal.

Misa shoved the photo to the back of the pile, stubborn tears starting to pour from her eyes no matter how much she tried to force them away. She recognized his wife in the next photo, both were in jeans sitting on their own motorcycles next to each other smiling for the camera. That one went in back, Emil was now putting lights on a Christmas tree. Misa could see a small child in the corner, though only from the back. A girl it looked like from the bright purple shirt and the pink beads on her hair tie. Shelly maybe? Little hands fed up a string of lights. Misa threw the photo on the floor as the tears poured down.

Emil was then looking down at another child who had an adult-sized motorcycle helmet on, blue sports jersey and black shorts indicating it was probably a boy. Misa only saw black hair and the corner of the boy's mouth sticking out from the helmet, not enough to see a name; was it Allen…or maybe poor little Liam? Emil looked like he was laughing. Another photo flew across the floor. He then was sitting at a table with a checkered cloth and various plates of food. Cheryl was sitting next to him feeding him a potato chip. The photo flew across the room.

Emil was sitting down in the next photo, the last photo in the stack, arms wrapped around a small boy in his lap. The child's face was framed by wavy black hair that went down to his shoulders though she could see every cherubic feature. Wide, innocent eyes looked at the camera, bowed lips almost serious.

The words "L Lawliet" and a series of numbers floated above his head.

Misa paused and stared at the photo, her tears slowing as she gave a few extra exasperated sobs. She could see the name this time, maybe Light wanted her to know who this was.

L Lawliet, why did the name show only an initial? Did he not have a full name? No, he had a full name; the realization sunk in and made her skin crawl. She looked further down on the photo, seeing Emil and his son sitting at a table; a chocolate frosted cake in front of them covered in pumpkin and ghost candies.

"Happy Birthday Liam" it read with five candles lined up in a row.

She stared at the boy in the photo. This was Liam on his fifth birthday sitting in his dad's lap. A year later he would be found wandering around the yard covered in his dad's blood. He would probably wake up to look out back and see…

Misa's hand dropped to the bed, her other hand covering her mouth as she wailed. She was done crying, she was sick of crying. Her wail turned into a grunt as she forced her hand up made herself stare at the little boy's name. Light wanted her to know this name…the name of a little boy who saw his father and future stepmother's bodies.

Concentrate, Misa, concentrate. Why did it say "L" when his name was Liam? Maybe his parents didn't give him an actual first name, maybe they wanted to leave it up for determination when he got older. Maybe the name was somehow erased in official documents and that was all he was known by after he as orphaned, but that shouldn't have made any difference. Shinigami eyes saw a person's real name regardless of if it was written anywhere else; the name needed to kill.

Somehow she felt like she had seen that name before. Misa searched her memory banks but could not pinpoint it out of the thousands of names she must have seen on a daily basis. Was Light trying to jog her memory? Why did Light care about this guy?

Would she have to kill him? Was that what Light wanted? Did he tell her this little kid's tragic story only to tell her he was her next target?

Misa's hands started shaking, eyes fixed on those cherubic features and that long, soft hair. She had to kill him? This little kid who found his father's body, would someone have to find his body too; his son maybe?

There had to be an explanation for this, Light had to be showing her this photo for a good reason. Misa remembered he was six-years-old in 1986, making him 24 or even 25 now. He was a grown man now not a little kid. Maybe he became a criminal like his dad, or maybe he did worse things.

What if he was an agent? Was he one of the FBI agents…no he was Canadian. Maybe he joined the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to catch other criminals and was now working to find Kira.

Misa analyzed that black hair and those wide eyes, another realization making her shake even harder. This wasn't L was it? Was this a photo of L when he was a little kid?

That had to be it, it made perfect sense! Light wanted her to know this person's name and this guy's real name was L, who else would have that for a first name? He had thick black hair too, she just needed to imagine it shorter and messier. L had to have been somewhere in his 20s, the age matched.

His dad's death made him want to become a detective, maybe Watari took him in; a poor little baby who was orphaned by killers, who saw his dad and stepmother…

No, that didn't make any sense! L's real name was L? That was stupid! But why did he have a last name if L was his real name? Why the hell would he use his real name as his alias, L wasn't that stupid.

If Light had L's real name, he would have wanted to give it to her a lot sooner than this to have him out of the way. Why would he have put her through all this lead-up to just give her L's real name? Light seemed more practical than that and he was probably aching to finally be rid of L. Maybe it was because he wanted to make arrangements for something and was stalling. But why didn't he just tell her to wait a few days from the beginning instead of after all these riddles and messages?

Why tell her his story if he just wanted her to kill him? Why did he share so much about a father if his son was their arch nemesis?

Light knew what this was doing to her, what did he think she would do if she found out she had to kill him? Unless he wanted her to learn to toss aside her emotions to better serve Kira. This was the ultimate test; she needed to overcome her demons to kill L. But why test this with L? He knew she would kill him without a second thought, why put that at risk; make her so crazy she could barely lift a pen? Damn him!

No, don't say that! Light is doing this for a reason; Light's not an idiot, how dare you say he is! Calm down, calm down, please; use reason. That's what Light would want.

She looked at the boy's features; the same color hair but his eyes looked like a watery blue, or rather gray on second inspection. Ryuzaki's eyes were really dark, or at least they looked that way. Five-year-olds didn't have the same features as adults, it could have been anyone.

Maybe killing him would be the most obvious answer, too obvious and she should know that. No, there was no way this could be L, it didn't make any sense. What if Light didn't want this guy dead, what if he actually had plans for him.

That's it! This guy's family was killed, he must have wanted revenge. Kira could give him that revenge, whether or not he was a police officer or a criminal himself. That's why Light gave her all those details, he wanted her to look past minor criminals and go after the really heinous ones. If Liam was a criminal, he could still be useful if he was willing to help.

Another light bulb went off in her brain, she shuffled the photos back to the one of Liam's parents and stared at his mother. She was Hafu, what if she still had family in Japan? What if Liam ended up living with that family, and what if he lived in Japan today?

Light wanted her to find this guy, probably to help with Kira's cause. Her stomach turned with another sudden thought; did Light want her to give away the Death Note, was Liam a worthier candidate to wield Kira's power? No, that was stupid.

No, wait; Light knew she was writing names down all alone while he was throwing L off track. An extra set of hands could help, she could give him pages of the notebook or maybe have him find criminals. They could use him to throw off suspicion and all of them could work as a team to ensure Kira's reign.

That was it, that had to be it. She needed to find this guy and recruit him. Maybe he was already a Kira supporter, maybe he appeared a few times on that news show on Sakura TV that was becoming more of a rally for Kira. Maybe he was on a few message boards.

Misa put the photos down and leapt from the bed, running for the couch and scooping up her Choco-Cat notepad and a blue pen. Her eye wandered to the VCR clock; almost 6:30. She had to start getting ready for her 8 a.m. shoot, make-up would take some additional time. Ryuk agreed not to be back before 7, but she almost wanted him here now so she could share her discovery.

She sat back on the bed and looked at the photo again; scribbling down "L Lawliet," writing "Liam Lawliet" next to it with an equal sign connecting the two.

She thought to text Light saying she figured it out, but it was better to be careful and wait a few days before saying anything. Maybe by then this guy would by her side ready for an audience with Kira himself.

* * *

**5:33 p.m.**

"The killing pattern has stayed relatively the same for the past two days," Light said, fingers tapping away on his keyboard and opening a graph on the main monitors.

A line took a few steady peaks and valleys, but the massive drop was obvious.

"Look here, the numbers have fluctuated slightly, but the line is clearly flattening out," Light said, positioning his cursor over the slightly flat shape.

Light looked back to see the rest of the Taskforce looking up at the graph, most nodding. Ryuzaki, however, repeatedly dug his spoon into his blueberry compote and kept his eye on the bluish-white mess of fruit and whipped cream. He was like a two-year-old who didn't want to eat and shuffled around his food, occasionally taking sloppy bites before going back to digging.

Light resisted the urge to roll his eyes and went back to his presentation. He had the floor now.

"This trend indicates that the Fourth Kira has taken a holding pattern of careful killings," Light continued, pressing another button and showing another graph on the side. "If we look at the victims, all of them are criminals who have committed very serious crimes. The new victims are mostly murderers, rapists, and a few involved in organized crime. I think this gives credence to Matsuda's theory that the Fourth Kira has a limited schedule and is likely a professional. It is a possibility the Fourth Kira might have realized his killing could become too obvious and decided to scale back."

"What if our new Kira had a change of heart?" Soichiro said. "He has gone from killing any criminal to only killing the worst criminals. Could we expect him to stop killing criminals in general?"

A few eyes turned to L, who took a few more hesitant bites of his fruit.

"I doubt that," Light said. "If the Fourth Kira did have a change of heart, he has to know Kira will not tolerate that. If he stops killing, Kira will probably kill him and give the notebook to someone else. But Kira also knows this is creating an obvious pattern. Maybe Kira already warned the Fourth Kira to keep writing names and not change his pace."

"But Ryuzaki said before this might be a pattern to get us looking the other way," Matsuda said. "Do you still think that, Ryuzaki?"

Everyone looked at L, who took a few more bites; some juice dribbling down his chin. Light narrowed his eyes in annoyance.

"Well what theory does everyone prefer to follow today," L said, wiping his chin with the back of his hand and not looking up.

Aizawa threw his hands up and sat back, Soichiro adjusted his glasses and shifted uncomfortably.

"Tell me again how this is getting us anywhere," Aizawa said. "My three-year-old daughter could lead this investigation with more maturity."

"And running around in circles isn't getting us anywhere either," L spat. Light heard a significant strain in his voice.

L took a few deep breaths, Light saw one hand clutch the edge of the table.

"Perhaps my previous viewpoint was a bit misaimed," L said, his voice becoming a bit breathier. "It is obvious there are at least two different threads for us to follow, but we need to be careful in how we look at them or else we will get tangled."

His arm slowly moved to his side and wrapped around his waist. Beads of sweat were forming over his forehead and he was starting to shake.

The uncomfortable looks were turning more into looks of concern. Light adopted one of his own that obfuscated excitement.

Was L having a heart attack? Light snuck a look around the room to see Rem still standing and looking on the scene herself with curiosity. Rem didn't write his name down, or maybe she had and death came slower for Shinigami. Or maybe Misa finally remembered his name, maybe that was why she was writing so few names down; she was setting the scene for this moment.

"R-Ryuzaki? Are you okay?" Matsuda asked.

Ryuzaki's breaths were now audible and staggered. He deposited the spoon into the bowl and braced his midsection with both of his arms.

"Watari, something's wrong!" Soichiro yelled.

L opened his mouth and a greenish mess hailed over his keyboard and onto the desk, some splattering across his shirt. Light jumped up from his chair and grabbed L by the shoulders, feeling him slightly slump forward. Light gently turned L's chair around away from the desk and moved in time for another wave to hit the floor.

L gagged and put his hand over his mouth, breathing heavily to calm his shaking muscles and tame his gag reflex. Light put an arm around his shoulder and a hand on his forehead. His skin was ice cold and coated in sweat. Light felt footsteps rushing behind him and saw dark sleeve move over to L.

Light looked back and saw Watari move into place beside L, putting an arm around him. Light slowly drew back and let Watari take over. L moved his hand and closed his eyes with a sigh, trying to get on his own feet but his legs were still shaking with the sudden surge.

Watari supported his weight and slowly pulled him up until he was able to stand. L flashed him an annoyed look and slightly pulled away, though Watari kept an arm on his shoulder. L looked completely humiliated.

"I'm sorry," L managed to say. "I just…I guess I haven't been feeling as well as I thought."

"Nonsense, you're ill," Watari said. "You're going to be of no use in this condition, you need to lie down."

L gave a painful sigh and reluctantly nodded, looking defeated.

"Ryuzaki, you've been pushing yourself too hard," Soichiro said, standing up and taking a few steps closer. "Go upstairs and get some rest. Take as long as you need."

"Yeah, Ryuzaki, get some rest," Light said, following behind Ryuzaki as he and Watari walked to the other side of the room. "We'll come up with some fresh ideas you can look over when you're feeling better."

Light forced his friendly tone against his disappointment. L wasn't having a heart attack, he was simply ill…or at least appeared ill. Light continued on for a few steps, but soon the door slid open and L and Watari were walking out of the room.

"Ryuzaki if there's anything I can do to help," Light said almost desperately.

"Light-kun, take over from here," L said. "Keep an eye on everything, document any new killings or additional theories. I won't be more than a few hours."

"You will be as long as you need to be," Watari said rushing him down the hallway and letting the door close behind him.

Following him wasn't going to be an option. He could try to monitor his movements, though the cameras were under L and Watari's control. Light stood staring at the door for a few seconds, though he needed to turn back to the Taskforce and continue working.

Was L faking this, using it as a distraction so he could leave headquarters to pursue a plan? Somehow that didn't make too much sense. L could control everything from one room, showing his face could put him even more at risk especially with him knowing that Misa had the Eyes.

Was he planning to meet with Misa and try to catch her writing his name down? That sounded even more nonsensical. Any surveillance camera could catch her writing a name down and, again, he suspected a Shinigami would intervene if he got too close without backup.

If he was faking it, it was a convincing performance; he really seemed ill. Then again he had access to any medication that could induce illness, though this wasn't sudden. He had been seemingly ill for the past few days.

Maybe the stress was getting to him. Light acutely remembered L's change in demeanor after he and Misa were released from confinement, though this seemed much worse. It seemed much worse because L was truly cornered and he knew it. Perhaps L could only hold his poker face for so long or he wasn't as collected when losing for so long. It did make sense; L had Higuchi and the Death Note in his hands and suddenly the stakes changed in the course of a few hours.

Regardless, Light needed to stay where he was and try to produce some more phony yet plausible theories to keep the Taskforce spinning their wheels. L was out of sight, but accusing him of faking it now would be a really bad idea. He could gradually introduce the idea in the next few hours, but it was risky. It was best to slip this card under his sleeve and play it later.

Fuel for later; it seemed as though that's all he ever had. Even the tiniest amount of fuel, however, could start infernos.

* * *

**7:41 p.m.**

They cooked the shrimp perfectly in a lemon butter sauce and paired it with the perfect cheese. The crust was just to die for with the white sauce slathered on it. It was hardly health food and hardly the food a model should be eating after a shoot, but Misa didn't care.

She took a big, luscious bite into the sweet, salty piece of pizza happiness and smiled. The Purple Café made the best pizza, but she would have to have some cake after she was done this; she needed to have some cake after she was done this. Today had been all about her.

Misa then looked down at her newly done black nails; the nail beds were so soft and her nails were so shiny after the pedicure she got after the shoot. Her muscles were still relaxed after that hot stone massage too, hopefully she would actually sleep well tonight.

She looked out the side window to see Ryuk still standing on the sidewalk watching people and cars go by. He said he would meet her after she got out, Rem was the same way whenever Misa went into a restaurant too. Maybe Shinigami didn't like restaurants, though she could understand the awkwardness of standing in a small space with people moving through you and the inability to have a conversation. She would have to order an apple tart to go and give it to him as a reward for being so patient.

Misa practically inhaled her small slice, turning back to the individual pizza and reaching for another piece. She would have to take Light here when they were free to go out for dates again.

"Mind if I sit down?"

Misa froze at the sound of the deep voice right next to her.

She grabbed the piece and slowly looked up, seeing a pair of baggy jeans, a black t-shirt covered with an black button-down with white pinstripes. That scrawny physique was still obvious as was the black hair reaching to the base of his neck, though this time pulled back into a messy ponytail. Wide eyes lined with black circles were fixed right on her contrasted by a polite smile.

Ryuzaki…L…standing right in front of her.

Her gaze went to the letters floating above his head and her blood went cold:

L Lawliet

Look natural, Misa, look natural. He's going to notice how you're looking at him!

She took a calm breath, but she couldn't pull her eyes from him. She couldn't avoid the subsequent mental image of a cherubic face framed by long hair and a shirt covered in blood.


End file.
